Trump reportedly tried to oust both Jeff Sessions and Robert Mueller. Now Mueller may have the documents to prove it.


The Justice Department has given Special Counsel Robert Mueller a new treasure trove of documents, ABC News reported Wednesday. Thought to be included in the handover are internal department communications from when Attorney General Jeff Sessions reportedly offered to resign, as well as from when President Trump reportedly tried to dismiss Mueller.
These documents could illuminate how Trump may have tried to block the FBI's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Sessions recused himself from the Russia inquiry last March, but ABC News notes that Sessions was one of two Justice Department officials who wrote memos justifying the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump abruptly dismissed while he was leading the bureau's Russia probe.
Trump told NBC's Lester Holt just days after the dismissal that he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation, though the memos from Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein claimed it was because of the FBI's treatment of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Comey's ouster prompted Rosenstein — leading the effort because of Sessions' recusal — to appoint Mueller to head up the Justice Department's Russia investigation, a development that reportedly infuriated Trump enough to demand Sessions quit his post, The New York Times reported in September.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sessions ultimately did not quit, though he did reportedly go so far as to write a letter of resignation. A month later, Trump reportedly sought to fire Mueller but was talked out of it. ABC News reported Wednesday that Mueller possesses communications "produced within the Justice Department during that time, including emails with White House officials."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
-
Today's political cartoons - March 23, 2025
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - alphabet censorship, American de-education, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 unlawfully funny cartoons about the Executive vs the Judiciary
Cartoons Artists take on halting deportations, attacking judges, and more
By The Week US Published
-
What is the the Mar-a-Lago accord?
Talking Point A Maga economic blueprint proposes upending the global financial system. Could it fly?
By The Week UK Published
-
Reports: Musk to get briefed on top secret China war plan
Speed Read In a major expansion of Elon Musk's government role, he will be briefed on military plans for potential war with China
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump signs order to end Education Department
Speed Read The move will return education 'back to the states where it belongs,' the president says
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump pauses $175M for Penn over trans athlete
Speed Read The president is withholding federal funds from the University of Pennsylvania because it once allowed a transgender swimmer to compete
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump purports to 'void' Biden pardons
Speed Read Joe Biden's pardons of Jan. 6 committee members are not valid because they were done by autopen, says Trump
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
White House ignores judicial deportation blocks
Speed Read The Trump administration deports alleged Venezuelan gang members under a wartime law, defying a court order
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Schumer: Democrats will help pass spending bill
Speed Read The Democrats end the threat of government shutdown
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump pulls nomination of anti-vax CDC pick
Speed Read Former Florida congressmen Dr. Dave Weldon was nominated to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Judges tell Trump to rehire fired federal workers
Speed Read Trump and Elon Musk's DOGE team face a big setback in their efforts to shrink the federal workforce
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published