Public Humiliation of Jeff Sessions: Trump's Sustained Campaign of Insults Against His Own Attorney General for Recusing from the Russia Investigation
Tier 3Documented2017-07-19 to 2018-11-07
Factual Summary
Jeff Sessions, a Republican senator from Alabama, was one of the first members of the U.S. Senate to endorse Donald Trump's presidential candidacy, doing so in February 2016 when most of the Republican establishment opposed Trump. After winning the election, Trump nominated Sessions as Attorney General, and he was confirmed in February 2017.
On March 2, 2017, Sessions recused himself from the Department of Justice's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election after it was revealed that he had met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign, meetings he had not disclosed during his confirmation hearing. The recusal meant that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would oversee the Russia investigation, and Rosenstein subsequently appointed Robert Mueller as Special Counsel in May 2017.
Trump responded to the recusal with a sustained public campaign of personal attacks against Sessions that lasted more than a year. The campaign was conducted primarily through Twitter and public statements and was documented in real time by news organizations.
On July 19, 2017, Trump told the New York Times that he would not have nominated Sessions if he had known Sessions would recuse himself. On July 22, 2017, Trump tweeted that "A new INTELLIGENCE LEAK from the Amazon Washington Post" was "Very Un-American!" and asked why Sessions was not investigating leakers and "Hillary Clinton's crimes." On July 24, 2017, Trump referred to Sessions as "our beleaguered A.G." while demanding to know why Sessions was not investigating Hillary Clinton. On July 25, 2017, Trump called Sessions "very weak" on Twitter regarding enforcement actions against Clinton. At a press conference that same day, Trump said Sessions "should not have recused himself almost immediately after he took office, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me prior to taking office."
The attacks continued through 2018. On June 5, 2018, Trump tweeted: "The Russian Witch Hunt Hoax continues, all because Jeff Sessions didn't tell me he was going to recuse himself. I would have quickly picked someone else." On August 1, 2018, Trump tweeted that Sessions should "stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now." On August 23, 2018, Trump told Fox News that Sessions "never took control of the Justice Department." On September 19, 2018, Trump told The Hill: "I don't have an attorney general. It's very sad."
According to Bob Woodward's book "Fear," Trump called Sessions "mentally retarded" and said his recusal was "the most incompetent thing" Sessions had ever done. Trump also reportedly used a profanity in a direct conversation with Sessions to characterize Sessions' decision.
On November 7, 2018, the day after the midterm elections, Sessions submitted a resignation letter at Trump's request. The letter stated: "At your request, I am submitting my resignation." Sessions was replaced on an acting basis by Matthew Whitaker, Sessions' chief of staff, who had not recused himself from the Russia investigation.
Sessions later attempted a political comeback by running for his former Alabama Senate seat in 2020. Trump endorsed his opponent, Tommy Tuberville, and publicly attacked Sessions during the primary campaign. Tuberville won the primary and the general election.
Primary Sources
1. Trump tweets attacking Sessions, July 2017 through November 2018 (archived via the Trump Twitter Archive and Library of Congress)
2. Trump interview with the New York Times, July 19, 2017 (on-the-record statement that he would not have nominated Sessions had he known about the recusal)
3. Sessions resignation letter, November 7, 2018 ("At your request, I am submitting my resignation")
4. Bob Woodward, "Fear: Trump in the White House," Simon and Schuster, 2018
Corroborating Sources
1. CNN: "Trump's Twitter attacks on Sessions: an annotated timeline," August 25, 2018
2. The Hill: "Flashback: 12 times Trump has ripped Sessions on Twitter," August 2018
3. NBC News: "Trump attacks Jeff Sessions: 'I don't have an attorney general,'" September 19, 2018
4. PBS NewsHour: "Trump attacks Sessions ahead of Senate primary runoff," July 2020
5. CBS News: "President Trump criticizes Jeff Sessions in morning tweet," multiple dates, 2017-2018
6. CNN: "Bob Woodward book: Trump called Sessions 'mentally retarded,'" September 4, 2018
Counterarguments and Context
Trump and his supporters argued that Sessions' recusal was unnecessary and that it hamstrung the administration by allowing the appointment of a Special Counsel who conducted what Trump called a "witch hunt." From this perspective, Trump's frustration with Sessions was a legitimate response to a subordinate who had failed to protect the president's interests. Some legal commentators argued that the recusal was discretionary and that Sessions could have handled the situation differently. However, the Department of Justice's ethics officials advised Sessions that recusal was required given his role in the Trump campaign and his undisclosed contacts with the Russian ambassador. Sessions followed the recommendation of career ethics officials. The sustained public humiliation of a Cabinet member, particularly one who had been an early and loyal supporter, was unprecedented in modern presidential history. The attacks were widely understood as an attempt to pressure Sessions into reversing his recusal or resigning so that Trump could install an attorney general who would shut down or limit the Russia investigation. This interpretation was supported by the Mueller Report, which cited the Sessions attacks as part of the evidence of potential obstruction of justice.
Author's Note
This entry is classified as Tier 3 because the attacks are documented through primary evidence, including Trump's own tweets, public statements, and on-the-record interviews. The characterization of the campaign as "public humiliation" is grounded in the documented record of sustained personal insults directed at a sitting Cabinet member over a period of more than 15 months.