Trump won’t say if he’ll fire Sessions

by Jordan Fabian - 07/25/17 3:44 PM ET

President Trump on Tuesday refused to say if he would fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions, but again offered sharp criticism of the nation’s top law enforcement official.

During a press conference with the Lebanese prime minister, Trump said he was “disappointed” with his attorney general and said only that “time will tell” what fate awaits him.

“I told you before, I’m very disappointed in my attorney general,” he said from the Rose Garden. “But we will see what happens. Time will tell, time will tell.

{mosads}“If he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before taking office,” Trump added. “I think that’s a bad thing not for the president, but for the presidency.”

Trump also urged Sessions to crack down on leaks that he said were coming from the nation’s intelligence agencies.

“I want the attorney general to be much tougher on leaks from intelligence agencies, which are leaking like rarely they ever have before,” he said. “These are intelligence agencies, we cannot have that happen.”

That follows an early morning tweet in which Trump ramped up his criticism of Sessions, underlining the sense that he wants to be rid of his attorney general.

Trump said Sessions, one of his earliest allies in the 2016 campaign, “has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes.”

On Monday, he described Sessions as “beleaguered,” and in an interview last week he repeated his disappointment that the attorney general had recused himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election.

Sessions stepped aside from that probe after it was revealed that he did not disclose in his confirmation hearings meetings he attended with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.

The Washington Post is reporting that Trump and his advisers are floating possible replacements for Sessions, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R). Giuliani said on Monday, however, that he’s not being considered for the position, and Cruz denied he is under consideration.