Several media sources are reporting that the news of Attorney General Jeff Session’s move to recuse himself from any investigations focusing on any Russian ties to the 2016 election has left President Donald Trump exceedingly upset.
Friday afternoon President Trump was ready to leave for Palm Beach, Florida. Before departing, however, he insisted on a meeting with his top advisors, where it is reported he went “ballistic” over the news. This was reported by ABC News, who says their information was gleaned from White House sources.
On Thursday, a press conference was arranged for and held by the Attorney General where he passed on his decision to recuse himself from the ongoing investigation. His decision was made in response to the very vocal bipartisan calls to make such a move. Those calling for his recusal are upset that Sessions made no mention of two separate visits during the time frame of the campaign season with the Russian ambassador during his confirmation hearings.
During the press conference, Sessions again conveyed that although he did meet with Russian ambassadors during this time period, there was no discussion of Trump’s campaign. That the conversations were so meaningless that he could not even recall much of the conversations at all.
Tweets from Robert Costa of the Washington post on Saturday state that Trump was “fuming” when he conveyed to his aids that the recusal should not have occurred. Trump went on to question what the logic was behind a recusal and emphasized his feelings that the situation was not handled appropriately, according to Politico. Trump’s feelings stem from his complete trust in Sessions, which has led him to believe there is no reason that Sessions should have given in to pressure to either resign or recuse himself from these hearings.
Among the aids and advisors in attendance for Friday’s meeting were Stephen Bannon, chief strategist, Reince Priebus, who is chief of staff, Sean Spicer, White House press secretary, Don McGahn, White House counselor, Mike Dubke, communications director, Jared Kushner, senior advisor and daughter Ivanka Trump.
It was decided after this impromptu meeting that instead of continuing plans to join President Trump on his Florida visit, Stephen Bannon and Reince Priebus should stay behind and handle things in Washington. According to ABC News, the names of the two staff members were removed from the trip’s manifest.