Despite his best efforts, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has not yet found a way to overcome the “sin” of his recusal from the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.
The Washington Post reported, citing two unnamed White House advisers, that Sessions has tried to regain President Donald Trump’s good graces by asking aides to make sure Trump is aware of policy decisions that advance his agenda.
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, White House counsel Don McGahn and former staffers Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus have also pitched in on Sessions’ campaign to re-ingratiate himself with Trump, according to the report, and the Department of Justice has also begun to examine subjects that Trump has publicly touted as possible matters of interest.
Sessions’ efforts have been unsuccessful, according to the Washington Post. Four unnamed White House officials and advisers cited in the report said that Trump remains angry about Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the investigation.
According to the report, Trump privately calls Sessions “weak,” considers him unloyal and says that “he should have never recused himself.”
“He’s one of the most active Cabinet secretaries there is,” one unnamed White House official told the Washington Post. “He’s done a fine job. Does it wash away the sin of recusal? I don’t think so.”
According to the report, Trump’s own efforts to force Sessions out by publicly humiliating him have been equally fruitless, though White House officials have privately guessed about who might replace him as attorney general.
