Trump Demanded Sessions Maintain Control Of Russia Probe After Recusing Himself

President Donald Trump slammed Jeff Sessions in a series of tweets early Wednesday morning, and said he had asked the attorney general to stay in control of special counsel Robert Mueller‘s Russia investigation after Sessions recused himself.

Trump Slams Jeff Sessions On Twitter

Perhaps one of Trump’s greatest attacks on Sessions was his remark that he “wished” he had picked another person to be attorney general.

“There are lots of really good lawyers in the country, he could have picked somebody else!” Trump tweeted, quoting South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee who was speaking about the president and Sessions.

Rep.Trey Gowdy, “I don’t think so, I think what the President is doing is expressing frustration that Attorney General Sessions should have shared these reasons for recusal before he took the job, not afterward. If I were the President and I picked someone to be the country’s….

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— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2018

….chief law enforcement officer, and they told me later, ‘oh by the way I’m not going to be able to participate in the most important case in the office, I would be frustrated too…and that’s how I read that – Senator Sessions, why didn’t you tell me before I picked you…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2018

….There are lots of really good lawyers in the country, he could have picked somebody else!” And I wish I did!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2018

Sessions announced in March 2017 that he would recuse himself from oversight of the Russia probe. Trump urged him to change his decision and remain an important figure in the investigation, but Sessions refused.

According to The New York Times, federal authorities have “pressed current and former White House officials about Mr. Trump’s treatment of Mr. Sessions” and whether they think Trump was attempting to obstruct the Russia inquiry by trying to convince the attorney general to not recuse himself.

Mueller is in part trying to determine whether the president obstructed justice by firing former FBI Director James Comey or in any other way.

Mother Jones noted that although Trump cited Gowdy in the Twitter posts, he did not reference the congressman’s other remarks from Tuesday, when Gowdy said he had no reason to believe the president’s claims that a “spy”  had infiltrated his campaign. The congressman also said he believed the FBI acted appropriately with respect to the Russia inquiry.

Rudy Giuliani — one of Trump’s lawyers in the Russia probe — recently said that if the president cooperated by responding to Mueller’s questions, he should not be obligated to reveal details of his private discussions with other top administration officials.