The two top Department of Justice officials, who most often serve as President Donald Trump’s virtual punching bags, have developed a bond of humor over the President’s scrutiny and often very public attacks.
According to people who know both Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who spoke with the Wall Street Journal, the two men who didn’t know each other well before they were appointed to top posts at the Justice Department have formed a bond that’s flourished since the two were spotted having dinner together in February. They now have daily morning meetings where they regularly discuss the DOJ’s other initiatives outside the Russia probe.
The WSJ described the pair as sharing a “gallows sense of humor” about Trump and his allies’ frequent criticism of them, citing sources who know both men. The veiled amusement over Trump’s apparent frustration with them has spilled into public view within the Justice Department, according to the WSJ.
To celebrate his first anniversary as attorney general, Sessions staffers jokingly bought him a bulletproof vest to symbolize the assaults he’s faced. When Rosenstein returned from a visit with Trump at the White House once, Sessions joked that he was “glad to still have a deputy,” per the WSJ.
While Sessions reportedly doesn’t even talk about the Russia investigation casually with friends, he once gave a speech to some conservative lawyers at the Mayflower Hotel and started the address by jokingly asking if there were any Russians in the room.
Read the WSJ full report here.