Why Jeff Sessions and Don McGahn are still on the job after flipping on Donald Trump
Attorney General Jeff Sessions gave cooperating testimony to Special Counsel Robert Mueller last week about Donald Trump’s pattern of obstruction of justice, meaning he’s formally or informally flipped on Trump in order to save himself. Based on various accounts, White House Counsel Don McGahn appears to have flipped on Trump months ago. This raises the question: why are they still working for Trump after having flipped on him?
We’re not talking about why Trump has kept them around; he’s notoriously oblivious, easily manipulated by those who stroke his ego, and cut off from real news. So it’s not shocking that he still hasn’t figured out that these two guys appear to be working against him from within. The question we’re raising is why they’d want to remain on the job. Can you imagine flipping on your criminal boss, yet continuing to show up to work every day along side him? There may be a simple answer for that.
Jeff Sessions is an extreme racist. He’s spent his entire career in politics proving as much. Attorney General is his dream job, because it means he gets to use the federal government to unjustifiably incarcerate and ruin the lives of nonwhite people. We’ve routinely seen it in the policies he’s prioritized. He recused himself from the Russia investigation early on because he didn’t want to end up in prison. He gave Trump up to Mueller as soon as he had to. But he’s remained on the job because he wants to keep doing racist things for as long as he can. In his case it doesn’t hurt that he can trade away his resignation in the end as part of a plea deal with the Feds.
Don McGahn is a bit more difficult to pin down. Recently we may have gotten the answer. CNN reported that McGahn has been prioritizing the appointment of conservative extremist judges to the federal bench (link). As with Sessions, he may be trying to remain on the job for as long as possible, so he can carry out as much of his goal as he can. In his case, McGahn’s goal is to reshape the courts in his own image. It’s worth noting that McGahn’s wife abruptly resigned from her Trump administration job this month, suggesting that he may be expecting to depart soon in an acrimonious manner.
