President Trump Reportedly Goes ‘Ballistic’ Over Jeff Sessions Recusal

With all the allegations of Russian connections within the Trump administration, it seemed obvious that once these people were caught that it would upset the president, and now we know he reportedly went ballistic after the most recent events. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently confirmed the reports that he met with a Russian ambassador during the Trump campaign, as he was a “surrogate” to the campaign. Sessions claimed it was part of his job, which saw him speak with leaders from 25 countries.

Sessions happened to be the man over the investigation regarding the Trump/Russia election hacking, which was a good pick due to the fact that it goes with the job he now holds. However, he decided to recuse himself after the most recent information came to light and this did not sit well with President Trump whatsoever. In fact, when Sessions made his announcement, it seemed that Trump needed to meet with people right away that Friday afternoon.

That said, President Trump gathered key advisers into the Oval Office that very afternoon before he departed for Palm Beach, Florida. ABC News reported that Senior White House sources claimed that the president went “ballistic” over Sessions recusal. Sessions has claimed that he did not meet with Russian operatives to discuss the Trump campaign and even said he could not remember much of what he had discussed with the ambassador he spoke with.

That said, President Trump knew that Jeff Sessions was his guy that he picked. If there was an investigation, it would make sense for him to lead it rather than an independent party who might not overlook certain issues possibly. While it is not known without doubt that Trump had anything to do with Russia hacking the presidential election, some analysts believe if he did, he would certainly want Sessions to see the issue than someone else to hopefully not cause an impeachment.

The Washington Post’s Robert Costa tweeted that Trump was “fuming” over the news about Sessions recusing himself, telling his aides that he should not have done so. Of course, Jeff Sessions removing himself from the investigation raised some red flags. Whether or not that means Sessions did speak to the ambassador over the Trump campaign is still not known, but removing himself from the investigation made a lot of people wonder if he truly did.

However, the president did not like the idea of the removal. Politico reported that Trump actually questioned the logic behind the move and emphasized to his advisers that the entire situation was handled poorly. It may have been, however, it seems odd that the president would worry so much over this or get so upset over Sessions’ recusal if he had nothing to hide. Trump did say he had total confidence in Sessions, but he saw no need for him to resign or recuse himself.

The advisers who took part in the meeting on Friday reportedly included Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Press Secretary Sean Spicer, White House Counsel Don McGahn, Communications Director Mike Dubke as well as Senior Adviser Jared Kushner and even his daughter Ivanka Trump. With all the key members of the Trump administration being in the room, it does seem like they wanted to discuss what was next.

While Jeff Sessions recusing himself does look bad, prosecutors and investigators remove themselves from cases all the time. This is done to avoid any sort of red tape that may come up in court as people could make the excuse that President Trump had an inside man if things seem off. Excuses could be made if things go well for Trump that things only went that way because Sessions was the man going against Donald Trump, and stood to possibly lose the Attorney General job if Trump was removed from office over this.

With Sessions walking away from the case, it could be concluded that Trump may actually have a better case to prove innocence rather than have a lifelong connection to this if there is a problem long-term. While Trump is clearly upset, there is a thought that this could be a blessing in disguise in the future, but it certainly does not look good for the short-term. The question is, how does the Trump administration bounce back from things? So far the president has accused President Barack Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower, so it’s already getting interesting.

[Featured Image By Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Images]