Jeff Sessions hires his own lawyer, amid report he may resign
Last night Palmer Report brought you the story of an inside report that Attorney General Jeff Sessions is set to be the next to exit the Donald Trump administration after Sean Spicer’s in-progress departure. Now comes word that Sessions is in so deep in the Trump-Russia scandal that he’s hired his own attorney to represent him.
That’s right, Donald Trump’s White House is now so compromised that the Attorney General needs his own attorney, according to a USA Today report (link). Although the newspaper doesn’t state Sessions’ specific reasons for hiring his own lawyer, it’s not difficult to figure out. He lied under oath about his secret meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during his confirmation hearings, then after he was caught, he lied again in his amended testimony. He also lied on his security clearance form; these are all imprisonable felonies.
Hiring an attorney is not an indicator of guilt. But Jeff Sessions’ decision to hire a lawyer does indicate that he expects to face legal consequences for his infractions, and that he won’t be able to magically make them go away (in other words, he doesn’t expect Donald Trump to pardon him). This comes amid ongoing reports that Trump is furious with Sessions for having recused himself from the Department of Justice’s Trump-Russia investigation. Ostensibly, the only reason Trump chose Sessions as Attorney General was so that he could help derail the investigation from within.
So while Jeff Sessions’ decision to hire an attorney doesn’t fully corroborate our report from last night that he’s plotting his resignation (link), it does point in the same direction. When your boss is under criminal investigation, lawyering up is a sign that you’re looking to distance yourself from the matter and protect your own interests. It raises the question of whether, in addition to resigning, Sessions, might be looking to cut a deal. Stay tuned.
