With Attorney General Jeff Sessions Out, What Happens Next In The Justice Department?

NPR Staff

November 08, 2018 / 7:00 am

caption: Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks during a news conference to announce a criminal law enforcement action involving China, at the Department of Justice in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018. Justice Department and FBI leaders announced criminal charges and an operation to thwart Chinese economic espionage. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions was forced to resign Wednesday, sparking questions about the future of the Russia investigation.

Guests

Margaret Talev, senior White House correspondent for Bloomberg News. Board member and past president of the White House Correspondents Association and the Washington Press Club Foundation. Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. (@margarettalev)

Jeff Pegues, justice and homeland security correspondent for CBS News. Author of “Kompromat: How Russia Undermined American Democracy.” (@jeffpeguescbs)

Rep. Joaquin Castro, Democratic congressman representing Texas’ 20th District, who won re-election on Tuesday to his fourth term. He will be a majority member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence and also serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee. (@JoaquinCastrotx)

Marc Lotter, former spokesman for Vice President Pence, former special assistant to President Trump. Trump 2020 advisory council member. (@marc_lotter)

From The Reading List

NPR: “Jeff Sessions Forced Out As Attorney General After Constant Criticism From Trump” — “Jeff Sessions, the president’s earliest and most fervent supporter in Congress, stepped down as attorney general Wednesday after brutal criticism from the president, bringing an abrupt end to his controversial tenure as the nation’s top law enforcement officer.

“Sessions noted in his resignation letter to the president that he was stepping down ‘at your request.’

“President Trump wrote on Twitter after a marathon press conference at the White House that Sessions was out and that Sessions’ chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, would serve as an acting replacement.”

Vox: “Jeff Sessions resigns as Donald Trump’s attorney general” — “Just one day after the 2018 midterm elections, and after months of harassment, President Donald Trump has asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign.

“During his nearly two years running the Department of Justice, Sessions was the most important player in Trump’s crackdown on immigration — an effort to reduce the number of mostly Hispanic migrants entering the United States, which the president dressed up as protecting the ‘rule of law.’

“As Vox’s Dara Lind put it: ‘If President Trump and all his appointees left office tomorrow, instead of Sessions, the mark Sessions has left on policy would be the most enduring.’ ”

USA Today: “Trump fires Jeff Sessions, names Matthew Whitaker as interim attorney general” — “President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions Wednesday, following a yearlong public shaming campaign that has raised questions about whether the president improperly interfered with the Justice Department’s inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

“Trump, who requested Sessions’ resignation, named Matthew Whitaker to serve as interim attorney general. Whitaker was Sessions’ chief of staff and had been considered for a variety of jobs in the Trump administration, including the No. 2 post at Justice or as White House counsel.”

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