Dummy Trump asks U.S. Attorneys to resign after Hannity calls for ‘purge’ of ‘Obama holdovers’

ThinkProgress

On Friday afternoon, Attorney General Jeff Sessions “abruptly” asked for the resignations of all 46 remaining U.S. Attorneys at the Justice Department appointed during the Obama administration. Career prosecutors will oversee cases until the Trump administration begins nominating new U.S. Attorneys to take their place.

While this action is not unprecedented — Sessions himself was asked to resign as U.S. Attorney in 1993 by the Clinton administration — both George W. Bush and Barack Obama gradually eased prosecutors out of their appointments as they sought replacements, to preserve continuity.

“In January, I met with Vice President Pence and White House Counsel Donald McGahn and asked specifically whether all U.S. attorneys would be fired at once,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said in a statement. “Mr. McGahn told me that the transition would be done in an orderly fashion to preserve continuity. Clearly this is not the case. I’m very concerned about the effect of this sudden and unexpected decision on federal law enforcement.”

The Trump administration indicated they would follow suit, but reversed course without warning. In fact, on a Thursday conference call with U.S. Attorneys, Sessions wished them “happy hunting!” with no indication that they would all be asked to resign the next day by midnight.

Trump’s conservative allies have increasingly called for him to rid the government bureaucracy of “enemies” they believe are secretly undermining his administration. In fact, on Sean Hannity’s Thursday evening show, he warned of “deep-state Obama holdovers embedded like barnacles in the federal bureaucracy” saying they are “hell-bent on destroying President Trump.” Hannity said “it’s time for the Trump administration to purge these saboteurs.”

The day before, Hannity pushed the theory that the CIA actually hacked Democrats’ emails during the election and framed Russia for it. Hannity has been giving Trump dozens of fawning interviews for years. He’s a big fan of the president, and Trump returns the favor, talking up and reportedly watching his show regularly.

How Sean Hannity Managed To Interview Trump 41 Times And Never Once Made News

Many U.S. Attorneys nominated by the Obama administration had already resigned, which is usual when the White House changes parties. But acting deputy attorney general Dana Boente called the remaining prosecutors to ask for their resignations. A White House official reportedly said Trump has not accepted the resignation of Boente, also the U.S. Attorney for the Easter District of Virginia; after acting Attorney General Sally Yates was fired by Trump in January’s “Monday night massacre” for not complying with enforcing the Muslim ban, Trump made Boente acting Attorney General.

That was the first time a president had fired an attorney general since Richard Nixon. The Trump administration also broke with precedent when it refused to extend the nation’s ambassadors the usual courtesy of staying at their posts a few weeks beyond Inauguration Day.

“The Attorney General has now asked the remaining 46 presidentially appointed U.S. attorneys to tender their resignations in order to ensure a uniform transition,” agency spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement on Friday.

The acting Attorney General stood up for the Constitution. So Trump fired her.

Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the state of New York with jurisdiction over Wall Street and the New York-based Trump organization, has been lauded by leaders on both sides of the aisle. Bharara stayed on the job after Trump won the election because Trump asked him to during a meeting in November. It was not initially clear whether Bharara had tendered his resignation like other U.S. Attorneys, or whether Trump would accept it if offered.

However on Saturday afternoon, CNN reported that sources confirmed Bharara would not resign as requested. A couple hours later, Bharara confirmed in a tweet that he had in fact been fired. [MORE]