Acting Attorney General Whitaker Won’t Recuse Himself From The Russian Investigation

The Justice Department claims politics doesn’t enter the department’s decision-making process. But that may not be the case now that acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker is running the show at the Justice Department. Whitaker is a loyal Trumpian, who had some pretty shady things to say about the Mueller investigation before Trump pulled him out of a gaggle of legal geese, and made him a government rock star. Trump has a habit of putting his people in power after throwing free-thinking people to the White House curb, according to several news reports. John Kelly, Rex Tillerson, and Jim Mattis can second that truth.

Trump fired Jeff Sessions because he didn’t want to get involved in the Russian probe. Sessions, the racist senator, and attorney general from Alabama, was up to his neck in Russian tomfoolery during the 2016 campaign. He knew he couldn’t oversee the investigation the way Trump wanted him to oversee it, so he recused himself. That left the door open for Trump to name Whitaker acting attorney general.

Several justice officials told Whitaker to recuse himself from the Russian investigation once he adjusted Sessions old chair in the big office. But Whitaker didn’t shadily scratch his way to the top of Justice Department to recuse himself. He has Trump work to do, and he wasn’t about to blow it now. Matt could influence the investigation, and the public may not find out about his actions, according to former justice officials.

Whitaker didn’t take the advice he got from senior justice officials who play by the book. Whitaker claimed other justice officials said he didn’t have to recuse himself without telling anyone who those justice officials are. But the word around the Justice Department is those officials were loyal Whitaker advisors.

When the new Congress got a whiff of that foul smelling non-recusal, they immediately added Whitaker’s name to their New Year smackdown list. Mr. Whitaker is under investigation for being involved with a company that misleads consumers. And the FBI wants to know if he violated federal laws while he ran for, but lost, a Senate seat.

The fact that Whitaker is under investigation by the FBI doesn’t surprise some people who know Matt Whitaker, according to the Washington Post. Whitaker has a reputation for pushing the political envelope so it opens in his favor, according to some people who worked with Whitaker through the years.