Jeff Sessions, the president's earliest and most fervent supporter in Congress, stepped down as attorney general Wednesday after brutal criticism from the president, bringing an abrupt end to his controversial tenure as the nation's top law enforcement officer.
Sessions noted in his resignation letter to the president that he was stepping down "at your request."
President Trump wrote on Twitter after a marathon press conference at the White House that Sessions was out and that Sessions' chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, would serve as an acting replacement.
Whitaker's responsibilities as acting attorney general will include oversight of the investigation into whether Trump's campaign conspired with the Russian attack on the 2016 election — the inquiry being run by special counsel Robert Mueller.
It wasn't immediately clear what that would mean for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has been supervising Mueller and has been the public face of the investigation in place of a reticent and press-averse special counsel.
Get the Exclusive
05.02.2025