Vocal critic of Mueller to replace Sessions as Attorney General

Attorney General Jeff Sessions tenured his resignation Wednesday at the request of President Donald Trump who then named Matthew Whitaker as his interim replacement.

“Since the day I was honored to be sworn in as attorney general of the United States, I came to work at the Department of Justice every day determined to do my duty and serve my country,” Sessions said in a seven-paragraph letter. “I have done so to the best of my ability to support the fundamental legal processes that are the foundation of justice.”

Sessions’ removal was widely expected to happen once the midterm elections had occurred as the president has constantly hammered him for having recused himself from any part of the Mueller probe.

Trump, who requested Sessions’ resignation, named Matthew Whitaker, Jeff Sessions chief of staff, to serve as interim attorney general. Whitaker has been a vocal critic of the Mueller probe and, in his interim position, will have oversight of the investigation.

“We are pleased to announce that Matthew G. Whitaker, Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Department of Justice, will become our new Acting Attorney General of the United States,” Trump tweeted. “He will serve our Country well.”

Whitaker can serve as interim A.G. for up to 210 days while President Trump chooses a nominee, which plausibly could be him. Whitaker had been reviewed as a possible member of the White House General Counsel. Whitaker joined Sessions staff just a month after writing an op-ed highly critical of the Mueller probe.

“It is time for Rosenstein, who is the acting attorney general for the purposes of this investigation, to order Mueller to limit the scope of his investigation to the four corners of the order appointing him special counsel.”

The president thanked Sessions for his service in a tweet and said that a permanent replacement will be chosen at a later date.