Trump: I’d Rather Tell You At A ‘Different Time’ If I Am Axing Sessions, Rosenstein

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 07: U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions after giving remarks a day after the midterm elections on November 7, 2018 in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Republican... WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 07: U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions after giving remarks a day after the midterm elections on November 7, 2018 in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Republicans kept the Senate majority but lost control of the House to the Democrats. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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If President Trump is ready to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein — who have drawn his ire over special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation — he wasn’t quite ready to announce it yet at a post-election press conference Tuesday.

“I’d rather answer that at a little bit different time,” Trump said. “We’re looking at a lot of different things, including cabinet. I’m very happy with most of my cabinet.”

According to a CNN report Monday, there are a number of candidates the White House is considering to replace Sessions while plans for Rosenstein’s successor — who reportedly offered a verbal resignation in September, only for the White House not to take him up on it — appeared to have stalled.

Sessions is currently recused from the Russia probe, giving Rosenstein oversight of Mueller. Sessions’ successor could in theory take back authority over the investigation. Firing Rosenstein while Sessions remained attorney general, meanwhile, would put Solicitor General Noel Francisco in charge of the special counsel.

Trump also dodged a question on Tuesday on whether he’d seek to remove Mueller.

“I could have ended it anytime I wanted. I didn’t. And there was no collusion. There was no anything. I didn’t,” Trump said. “They went after hackers in Moscow. I don’t know about that. They went after people with tax problems from years ago. They went after people with loans and other things, nothing to do with my campaign.”

He claimed that Mueller’s probe was an “an investigation where many, many millions of dollars” had been spent.

(In fact, the millions of dollars in assets former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort agreed to turn over to the government as part of his plea deal stands to pay off a good deal of what Mueller’s probe has cost taxpayers so far.)

“There’s no collusion. It was supposed to be on collusion,” Trump said “There’s no collusion and I think it’s very bad for our country.”

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