During a recent meeting, President Trump spoke with Attorney General Jeff Sessions' chief of staff about replacing his boss, several people with knowledge of the discussion told The Washington Post on Wednesday.
Trump met with the chief of staff, Matt Whitaker, after The New York Times reported last month that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein suggested wearing a wire to monitor Trump; people close to Rosenstein said he was not being serious. The White House was interested in having Whitaker replace Rosenstein as acting deputy attorney general, and the conversation moved on to him taking over for Sessions, the Post reports. It wasn't clear if Trump wanted Whitaker to become the official nominee to replace Sessions, or if it would just be temporary. The plan was ultimately dropped, with Trump saying he does not want to remove Rosenstein.
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.
-
2024: the year of legacy media failuresIn the Spotlight From election criticism to continued layoffs, the media has had it tough in 2024
-
Marty Makary: the medical contrarian who will lead the FDAIn the Spotlight What Johns Hopkins surgeon and commentator Marty Makary will bring to the FDA
-
4 tips for navigating holiday season stressThe Week Recommends Balancing pressure and enjoying the holidays can indeed coexist
-
Putin says Russia isn't weakened by Syria setbackSpeed Read Russia had been one of the key backers of Syria's ousted Assad regime
-
Georgia DA Fani Willis removed from Trump caseSpeed Read Willis had been prosecuting the election interference case against the president-elect
-
Democrats blame 'President Musk' for looming shutdownSpeed Read The House of Representatives rejected a spending package that would've funding the government into 2025
-
Trump, Musk sink spending bill, teeing up shutdownSpeed Read House Republicans abandoned the bill at the behest of the two men
-
Congress reaches spending deal to avert shutdownSpeed Read The bill would fund the government through March 14, 2025
-
Luigi Mangione charged with murder, terrorismSpeed Read Magnione is accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
-
Ex-FBI informant pleads guilty to lying about BidensSpeed Read Alexander Smirnov claimed that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter were involved in a bribery scheme with Ukrainian energy company Burisma
-
South Korea impeaches president, eyes chargesSpeed Read Yoon Suk Yeol faces investigations on potential insurrection and abuse of power charges
