U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) shed no tears when President Donald Trump announced Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ departure Wednesday afternoon.
“Good riddance!” Welch said. “This guy is the worst attorney general in my lifetime. I mean, he’s the enforcer of family separation, condones voter suppression, the Muslim ban. This guy’s absolutely awful.”
But Welch, who won his seventh term in Congress the day before, does have one fear: “President Trump is pretty good at finding bad people, and he might replace [Sessions] with somebody that’s worse.”
For now, Sessions’ chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, will serve as acting attorney general, according to the White House. He will oversee Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and allegations of obstruction of justice by the president and his associates.
That has Welch and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) worried, because Whitaker has supported defunding the investigation and limiting its scope. Both men said Wednesday that Whitaker should steer clear of the Mueller probe.
“I am strongly in favor of him recusing himself,” Welch said. “It would be a way of him providing more reassurance that they’re not going to mess with Mueller.”
Vermont’s third member of Congress, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), did not respond to an interview request.
Leahy, a former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should continue to oversee the investigation because he has “proven honest and objective.” Leahy said he believes Trump asked for Sessions’ resignation in order to stymie the special counsel.
“My guess is that he’s hoping that he might be able to get Mueller off this entirely,” the senator said. “You’re [appointing] somebody who has publicly stated that he’s totally against the Mueller investigation.”
Leahy said that if that’s the case, it would constitute obstruction of justice.
Welch wouldn’t go quite so far, even though he has previously said that firing Rosenstein to end the Mueller investigation would be obstruction.
“You know, you’re doing a hypothetical. We just don’t know what the facts are,” Welch said. “If he fires Mueller, then that’s obstruction of justice, in my view, and would be impeachable.”
Welch, whose party won control of the House on Tuesday, said he hopes Democrats will focus more on investigating the president and providing oversight than pursuing his impeachment.
“I am absolutely committed to protecting the integrity of the Mueller investigation,” he said. “And, in fact, I think with the new Democratic majority my confidence that we can maintain its independence has increased.”
Disclosure: Paul Heintz worked as Peter Welch’s communications director from November 2008 to March 2011.
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Lock him up!
Whitaker was hired for the sole purpose of derailing the Mueller investigation. That should be obvious to all but the most blind Trumpsters. There seems to be no end to the people Trump can find and hire who lack any sense of ethics or morals.
It appears that Trump and his supporters and apologists would rather see the country burn than to follow the Constitution. Trump violates the emoluments clause of the Constitution every day yet the spineless Congressional GOP does nothing to stop him. In fact , all Republicans are complicit with Trump’s lawlessness if they remain silent.
I expect that nothing will happen in the upcoming lame duck session that will change what Trump is doing or trying to do as far as shutting down Mueller. Bernie and Welch can complain all they want. Nothing will change Trump’s behavior until all the Republicans get off of their knees before the Bloated Orange One. And there is no sign of that happening any time soon.
The old saying goes, “Fish rot from the head”. Vermont is witnessing this in their Federal Deligation, rotten to the core, imo. Now that Sessions has resigned and even more Republicans are in the Senate, the release of classified materials should soon clear up all the deception the criminal deepstate and their Congressmen and Senators have perpetrated on Vermonters. Enjoy the show..
Impeach Welch and Leahy for being utterly incompetent and very stupid so-called public servants. What a joke they are! I hope that Whittaker cleans house and files charges against every Demoncrat who has been out to undo our very Great President Trump.
Ethics, conflict of Interest, and recusal is very loosey goosey. Both parties have kept it that way. It is one of the things, like voting rights and gerrymandering, that Dems could work on legislatively. Dems have been too much like GOP-lite and if they want to win elections going forward they have to stand with the progressive agenda of Bernie et al.
In VT, ethics commission rules that Scott’s IOU deal with his company does not qualify as separation for the purpose of the company bidding on state contracts. When the Ethics Commission so ruled, Scott shrugged it off. In Burlington, likewise, conflict of interest is not taken seriously. If Dems want to be respected, they need to step up and address these issues legislatively.
This guy is the worst attorney general in my lifetime.” Well, Welch, you are the worse Congressman in my lifetime .!!! Same with Leahy and Socialist Sanders.
That has Welch and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) worried because Whitaker has supported defunding the investigation and limiting its scope. Both men said Wednesday that Whitaker should steer clear of the Mueller probe. Are you fools afraid he might find out something about you two?
Also, President Trump DID NOT fire Sessions, Sessions had said that after the midterms he was leaving, he wants to go back to Alabama to run for his old position as Senator.!!!
Sessions can now testify against the Democrats, there also should be an investigation into the Vermont EB5 scandal and have Leahy pay the north country for the mess up there! Apparently all the voters forgot his fellow cronies when they re-elected them! What about an investigation into the idiots voting for the Iran deal…ohh the list is long…
If Sessions had not recuse himself, Trump could have picked a different AG.
Also Mr, Welch, Obama was enforcer of family separation long before Trump came into office. Now, IF the French-Canadians rush Vermont’s borders?