Politics

Trump attacks Attorney General Jeff Sessions again, this time over Obama and Russian meddling

Key Points
  • Trump slams his attorney general again.
  • This time, he calls on his millions of Twitter followers to "ask Jeff Sessions" why the Obama administration is not the focus of the special counsel's Russia probe.
  • Trump has routinely criticized Sessions over his recusal from the Russia probe.
Donald Trump, Tweeter-in-Chief
Getty Images

President Donald Trump on Wednesday slammed his attorney general again, this time calling on his 48 million Twitter followers to "ask Jeff Sessions" why the Obama administration is not the focus of the Russia probe.

"If all of the Russian meddling took place during the Obama Administration ... why aren't they the subject of the investigation?" Trump tweeted.

Trump tweet: Question: If all of the Russian meddling took place during the Obama Administration, right up to January 20th, why aren't they the subject of the investigation? Why didn't Obama do something about the meddling? Why aren't Dem crimes under investigation? Ask Jeff Sessions!

The tweet was his second attempt — an earlier version misspelling Sessions' name as Session was deleted. The tweet suggests that the Obama administration failed to act in response to the Russian meddling.

Recent court documents allege that the Kremlin's efforts were being conducted largely by a Russian entity first formed in July 2013. The Obama administration was aware in 2014 of Russia's efforts to disrupt American politics, though there was no evidence at the time of a threat to influence elections, current and former officials told Politico.

But former President Barack Obama also personally warned Russian President Vladimir Putin against election meddling in September 2016, The New York Times reported. On Oct. 7 — the day the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape of Trump describing sexual assault was released — the Obama administration publicly accused Russia of hacking emails from members of the Democratic National Committee.

And before he left office, Obama imposed sanctions on Russia specifically in response to that country's efforts to influence the election.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Trump said he has "been much tougher on Russia than Obama, just look at the facts." But the Trump administration declined an opportunity to impose penalties against Russia after a new law calling for sanctions passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

In a briefing Tuesday, press secretary Sarah Sanders said the White House is following the correct process.

"That law also says that the countries have to violate something in order for those sanctions to go in place. And that hasn't necessarily happened," Sanders said, even though she said the Russian election meddling was "very clear" just a few seconds earlier.

In the Wednesday morning tweet, Trump also asked, "Why aren't Dem crimes under investigation?" before telling his audience to "Ask Jeff Sessions!"

Trump has used his Twitter account to attack Sessions before, particularly since the attorney general recused himself from investigating matters relating to the 2016 presidential campaign after he failed in testimony to disclose meetings with a Russian ambassador.

Trump tweet Jeff Sessions VERY weak

The recusal kept Sessions from overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible Russian involvement with the Trump campaign, ceding responsibility to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

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