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Dem lawmaker: Trump should fire Sessions

July 26, 2017

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) on Tuesday said President Trump should fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions — but not for the reasons that seem to bothering Trump.

"Well, I support President Trump firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions — not for the misguided reasons he wants to fire him though," Swalwell told host Wolf Blitzer on CNN's "The Situation Room."

Swalwell, a member of both the House Intelligence and Judiciary panels, said Sessions should be fired for not being "forthcoming with the Senate" after he supported Trump's plan to fire then-FBI Director James Comey, despite recusing himself from the Russia-election investigation, and for giving misleading answers during his confirmation hearing about 2016 meetings with Russians.

"So I think because he was not forthcoming with the Senate, because he was involved in James Comey's firing, he can't lead the Department of Justice," Swalwell said, adding that the upper chamber would need to confirm Sessions's replacement.

Trump, who has publicly vented his frustration that Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, has not directly said he wants to fire the Justice Department head, but every day this week he's tweeted his disappointment.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at the Wednesday press briefing that even though the president has expressed he's "disappointed" in Sessions, he "also wants the attorney general to continue to focus on the things that the attorney general does."

But Trump's public belittling of the former Alabama senator, Trump's first campaign backer in the Senate, has fueled speculation that the president is trying to bully Sessions into resigning.

Different news outlets have reported that Trump has floated names of contenders to replace Sessions including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), although both have denied they are under consideration for the post.

Swalwell said the Senate's role in confirming the administration's next attorney general would be "an opportunity for Republicans and Democrats to unite, act as a co-equal branch of government, and really put some checks and reins on this president."