President Trump turned up the pressure on his own attorney general on Monday, calling him "beleaguered" in a tweet questioning why the Justice Department is not investigating Hillary Clinton.
Trump's comments are remarkable because if the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, is beleaguered of late it is largely because of Trump himself.
In an interview last week with The New York Times, Trump said he never would have nominated Sessions if he knew he intended to recuse himself from the investigation into Russian meddling and the Trump campaign. Those comments raised speculation that Sessions would quit, but he did not. Instead, Sessions said he would stay on as attorney general "as long as that is appropriate."
Sessions has made it a priority to address violence, gangs and drugs — carrying out Trump's inaugural pledge to end "American carnage." But his tense relationship with Trump has overshadowed his agenda at the Justice Department. Sessions was the first senator to endorse Trump's candidacy and was an architect of his populist message on immigration and trade. In his tweet, Trump returned to campaign rhetoric, suggesting his Democratic opponent should be the subject of an investigation into murky ties to Russia, not him. On Saturday, Trump tweeted that "so many people" were asking why Sessions and the special counsel were not looking into Clinton and her deleted emails.
After winning the election, Trump declared that the Justice Department should not pursue investigations of Clinton. But some of his outside advisers have called for him to push for such an inquiry. Clinton also faced investigations into her family's foundation and her use of a private email server.
During the campaign, Trump's supporters were most animated by chants of "Lock her up!" Those chants have continued at rallies Trump has held as president. In a subsequent tweet on Monday morning, Trump described the Russian investigations an "excuse" by Democrats for losing the election. Trump then shifted to tweeting about Senate Republicans' ongoing effort to repeal Obamacare. AGENCIES