Sessions offered to quit amid rising tensions with Trump: reports

White House won’t say if Trump has confidence in his attorney general

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U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has clashed with President Donald Trump in recent weeks.

By

MIKEMURPHY

EDITOR

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions offered to resign in recent weeks amid rising tensions between him and President Donald Trump, according to multiple reports Tuesday night.

ABC News, the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and CNN all independently reported late Tuesday that Sessions was willing to step down if Trump no longer wanted him in his administration. The reports said Sessions does not want to resign and instead seeks the freedom to do his job. Trump did not accept Sessions’ offer at the time, and Sessions apparently has no plans to quit in the near future.

Earlier Tuesday, White House press spokesman Sean Spicer said he could not say if Trump still had confidence in Sessions.

Trump is reportedly upset with Sessions over his decision to recuse himself from the investigation into Russian election meddling, blaming that for the Justice Department decision to name an independent counsel to lead the probe. Trump has also blamed Sessions’ Justice Department for “watering down” his proposed travel ban.

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Reports said Trump has had a number of heated discussions with Sessions in recent weeks, and has lashed out at him in private meetings.

On Thursday, former FBI Director James Comey will testify before a Senate committee investigating Russian election meddling, where he is expected to stop short of saying Trump obstructed justice by allegedly asking him to back off investigating links between his campaign staff and Russian officials.

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