Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2018
AG Sessions releases statement:
“As long as I am the Attorney General, I will continue to discharge my duties with integrity and honor, and this Department will continue to do its work in a fair and impartial manner according to the law and Constitution.” https://t.co/VPldAv8DSF pic.twitter.com/bWnb4AKHFs
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 28, 2018
It’s always a little strange when Trump attacks Sessions. But I guess it means he has learned his lesson about interacting with an independent Justice Department.
Some Republicans are coming to the defense of Sessions (or IG Horowitz)
Trey Gowdy answered Trump’s tweet in a statement.
Gowdy, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said that Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz “has been fair, fact centric, and appropriately confidential with his work.”
“He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate without a single dissent. I have complete confidence in him,” Gowdy added in a statement, saying he hopes Horowitz gets “the time, the resources and the independence to complete his work.”
Horowitz is already looking into the FBI’s handling of the 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email scandal.
Even former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who left Congress for Fox News broke script to muse about Trump’s cry for help:
Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the previous head of the Oversight committee, said on Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom” that Trump’s Twitter attacks against Sessions were “mind-boggling” and “almost embarrassing.”
What is additionally strange is that Trump is using phrases that he wouldn’t know off the top of his head — like “prosecutorial power”. He must be reading a memo, or talking with someone as he tweets this. Or watching TV.
UPDATE — Ah, Hannity used the phrase last night. Trump must have been watching the TIVO.
@seanhannity What good is another IG investigation with no prosecutorial power…we need a SC with a grand jury..@jeffsessions #Hannity
— swjohns (@swjohns1) February 28, 2018