Trump pushes Sessions to control DOJ: ‘Come on Jeff, you can do it’

President Trump turned Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s words back on him Friday morning, urging him to take control of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!” Trump tweeted.

Trump earlier this week told Fox News that Sessions “never took control of the Justice Department.”

{mosads}

“When everybody sees what’s going on in the Justice Department — I always put ‘justice’ now with quotes — it’s a very, very sad day,” Trump told “Fox & Friends” this week.

He went on to say he only gave Sessions the attorney general job to reward his loyalty and asked, “What kind of a man is this?”

Sessions, who has become a frequent target of Trump’s criticism and rarely responds, then released a sharp statement.

“While I am attorney general, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations,” he said. “I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action.”

Trump quoted that statement in his tweet, saying, “Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, so look into all of the corruption on the ‘other side’ including deleted Emails, Comey lies & leaks, Mueller conflicts, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr…”

“Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.” Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, so look into all of the corruption on the “other side” including deleted Emails, Comey lies & leaks, Mueller conflicts, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr……

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

….FISA abuse, Christopher Steele & his phony and corrupt Dossier, the Clinton Foundation, illegal surveillance of Trump Campaign, Russian collusion by Dems – and so much more. Open up the papers & documents without redaction? Come on Jeff, you can do it, the country is waiting!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

Trump has criticized the role former FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page played in Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s election interference and possible collusion with the Trump campaign, along with former FBI Director James Comey’s and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe’s handling of cases such as the probe into Hilary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of State, as well as Mueller’s investigation itself and Sessions for recusing himself from the investigation.

Bruce Ohr is a DOJ official with reported ties to the “Steele dossier,” a set of salacious accusations about Trump. He was demoted earlier this year. 

Trump and other Republicans have called on the DOJ to release unredacted documents related to the criticized cases. The DOJ has cooperated with congressional committees on thousands of documents, some of which are redacted to protect sensitive information or restricted to viewing by specific lawmakers.