President Trump attacked Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Justice Department on Monday in connection with the indictments of two GOP congressmen on corruption charges, saying they could hurt the Republican Party in the midterm elections.
“Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department,” he said on Twitter. “Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time.”
“Good job Jeff……” he added, in a sarcastic comment. Calling the agency the “Jeff Sessions Justice Department” is the president’s ultimate insult, Trump advisers say.
.. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) criticized the president’s tweet. “The United States is not some banana republic with a two-tiered system of justice — one for the majority party and one for the minority party. These two men have been charged with crimes because of evidence, not because of who the President was when the investigations began,” he said in a statement.
.. The tweet on Sessions was an unusually harsh salvo, even for a president who sometimes expresses his thoughts on Twitter to the chagrin of his staff. The tweet indicated that his attorney general should base law enforcement actions on how it could affect the president and the Republican Party’s electoral success. It also seemed to indicate that electoral popularity should influence charges.
.. “Repeatedly trying to pervert DOJ into a weapon to go after his adversaries, and now shamelessly complaining that DOJ should protect his political allies to maintain his majority in the midterms, is nothing short of an all-out assault on the rule of law,” former deputy attorney general Sally Yates said in a statement Monday.
Trump Attacks Koch Brothers After GOP Donors Shy Away From Candidate
President says industrialists are a ‘total joke’ after they said they wouldn’t back a Senate hopeful
“The globalist Koch Brothers, who have become a total joke in real Republican circles, are against Strong Borders and Powerful Trade. I never sought their support because I don’t need their money or bad ideas,”.. At the conference, leaders of the Koch-backed political and policy groups said they wouldn’t support Rep. Kevin Cramer, a GOP Senate candidate challenging Democratic incumbent Heidi Heitkamp, because he has sided with Mr. Trump on tariffs... Mr. Trump won North Dakota by 36 percentage points in 2016, and Republicans see Ms. Heitkamp’s seat as one of their most promising pickup opportunities in the November midterms... The Kochs and many traditional pro-business Republicans oppose tariffs, fearing an increase in the cost of industrial supplies and retaliatory tariffs imposed by trading partners... Mr. Trump hasn’t attended any of the Koch conferences, held twice a year at posh resorts. Those gatherings are typically a draw for Republican candidates, and Vice President Mike Pence has been a regular attendee. Mr. Pence spoke at a small Koch gathering last fall in New York... During the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump blasted his GOP opponents as “puppets” of donors such as the Koch brothers. In November 2015, Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter, referencing presidential rivals Scott Walker, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, “@CharlesGKoch is looking for a new puppet after Governor Walker and Jeb Bush cratered. He now likes Rubio — next fail.”