White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Wednesday that President Donald Trump wants Attorney General Jeff Sessions to continue serving as attorney general.
President Trump continues to criticize his attorney general and told The Wall Street Journal Tuesday he’s “just looking” at whether to dismiss Sessions. Sanders said at a press briefing that the president “can be disappointed in someone and want him to continue to do his job.”
“The president wants the attorney general to focus on his duties as attorney general,” Sanders later said.
Sessions visited the White House for a meeting Wednesday, but did not speak with President Trump. The White House spokeswoman said that she doesn’t believe the two have spoken this week.
The criticism of Sessions by the president has risen out of Trump’s anger that Sessions recused himself from the investigation into Russian election interference. The attorney general chose to do this due to his role as an adviser to Trump’s campaign and the fact that the investigation is probing whether there was collusion between the Trump camp and the Kremlin.
The president this week knocked Sessions for not investigating Hillary Clinton and intelligence leaks. It was subsequently reported Wednesday that the attorney general will in fact announce a probe into leaks of sensitive national security information.