President Trump tweeted Wednesday morning that he wished he picked someone other than Jeff Sessions to be attorney general, after Rep. Trey Gowdy, S.C., said “there are lots of really good lawyers in the country.”
“I wish I did,” Trump tweeted, after quoting Gowdy’s appearance on “CBS This Morning” saying Trump “could have picked someone else.”
In the interview, Gowdy was asked whether Trump was obstructing justice by asking Sessions to reverse his decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation.
“I think what the president is doing is expressing frustration that Attorney General Sessions should have shared these reasons for recusal before he took the job. Not afterward.” — @TGowdySC pic.twitter.com/6E5Nvotcix
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) May 30, 2018
“If I were the President and I picked someone to be the country’s chief law enforcement officer, and they told me later ‘oh by the way I’m not going to be able to participate in the most important case in the office, I would be frustrated too,” Trump quoted Gowdy as saying in a string of tweets.
“‘Senator Sessions, why didn’t you tell me before I picked you, there are lots of really good lawyers in the country, he could have picked somebody else!’ And I wish I did!” Trump tweeted.
Rep.Trey Gowdy, “I don’t think so, I think what the President is doing is expressing frustration that Attorney General Sessions should have shared these reasons for recusal before he took the job, not afterward. If I were the President and I picked someone to be the country’s….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2018
….chief law enforcement officer, and they told me later, ‘oh by the way I’m not going to be able to participate in the most important case in the office, I would be frustrated too…and that’s how I read that – Senator Sessions, why didn’t you tell me before I picked you…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2018
….There are lots of really good lawyers in the country, he could have picked somebody else!” And I wish I did!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2018
Last year, after Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, Trump repeatedly said he would not have appointed Sessions to be attorney general if he knew beforehand that he would recuse himself.
The New York Times on Tuesday reported that Trump had asked Sessions to continue overseeing the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election after Sessions had already recused himself over his contacts with Russians.
Trump reportedly berated Sessions during a March 2017 meeting and told him to reverse his decision to recuse, which the Times called “an unusual and potentially inappropriate request.”
Special counsel Robert Mueller is now investigating the conversation, the Times revealed, along with Trump’s other attacks on Sessions, both public and private.
Despite Trump’s criticisms, Sessions has defended his decision, claiming he did the right thing by recusing himself.
