| | | | Donald Trump just seized control of the Russia probe |  | | A day after voters chose divided government by handing the House majority back to Democrats, President Donald Trump made the sort of I-do-what-feels-right-when-it-feels-right move that has become his hallmark over his past three years in political life: He fired Jeff Sessions.
And in so doing, Trump appears to have wrestled back operational control of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and the possibility of collusion between Trump's campaign and a foreign power.
In firing Sessions -- by tweet, natch -- Trump announced that Matt Whitaker, Sessions' chief of staff at Justice, would become the acting Attorney General, a post he can hold for roughly 200 days because he has not been confirmed previously by the Senate.
But even having Whitaker in the job for the next 100 days could be enough for Trump. Whitaker has been openly critical of the breadth of Mueller's investigation and even mused on this chain of events in a 2017 interview with CNN:
"I could see a scenario where Jeff Sessions is replaced, it would recess appointment and that attorney general doesn't fire Bob Mueller, but he just reduces his budget to so low that his investigations grinds to almost a halt."
Given Whitaker's past comments, Democrats immediately called on him to recuse himself from oversight of the Muller probe. Which, um, ain't happening.
Trump got rid of Sessions because he could never forgive the former Alabama Senator for recusing himself in the Russia probe, a recusal that placed deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in charge of the investigation and, in Trump's mind, led to the Mueller appointment.
And, Trump could have simply promoted Rosenstein to Sessions' job but passed over him for Whitaker. That Rosenstein has repeatedly expressed his support for Sessions, Mueller and the special counsel probe is not a coincidence in his being passed over for the job.
Don't believe me on Trump's intentions as it relates to the Russia probe. Believe Trump himself. Here's what he said about the probe -- and his role in it -- during a press conference Wednesday:
"I stay away from it. But you know what I do? I let it just go on. They're wasting a lot of money, but I let it go on, because I don't want to do that. But you're right; I could end it right now. I could say, 'That investigation is over.'"
Ahem. Cough.
Ominous, no? Especially when you consider that, according to the reporting, Trump knew Sessions was already out when he held the press conference. (White House chief of staff John Kelly fired Sessions on Wednesday morning.)
So, Trump has referred to the Mueller probe as a witch hunt and a hoax more than 160 times since it began last spring. He has said it is a waste of money and sought to discredit not only Mueller but the investigators he has hired to work for the special counsel's office. And he got rid of a guy who supported the probe, passed over another guy who also approved of the probe and chose as acting attorney general a guy who has said all sorts of negative things about the probe.
The Point: All the lights are blinking red. ALL OF THEM.
-- Chris | | "Mia Love gave me no love and she lost. Too bad. Sorry about that, Mia."
-- President Donald Trump criticizing Utah Rep. Mia Love, who lost last night and previously distanced herself from Trump during the campaign. Chris rounded up the 64 most truly remarkable lines from Trump's post-election news conference. | | |  | Who exactly is Sessions' replacement, Matthew Whitaker?
He's a former US attorney who directed the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), a conservative ethics watchdog group. He ran in the Republican primary for Iowa Senate in 2014. He was also a CNN legal commentator.
As acting AG, he's expected to oversee the Mueller investigation -- something he criticized on the record in a CNN op-ed published last year, writing: "It is time for (Rod) 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. ... If he doesn't, then Mueller's investigation will eventually start to look like a political fishing expedition." | | | Vice President Mike Pence has accepted President Donald Trump's offer to be his running mate again in 2020 -- made during the President's free-wheeling press conference in the East Room today. From CNN's Betsy Klein: "Mike, will you be my running mate?" Trump said, asking the Vice President, seated in the front row, to stand up. The Vice President obliged. "Will you?" Trump asked as Pence nodded and laughed. Pence took his seat, laughing as press secretary Sarah Sanders patted him on the back.
And that's not all that happened... Read Chris' full recap here. | | | Ariana Grande's latest instant classic "thank u, next," inspired by her breakups, has already inspired memes and totally fits the political moment as we now look to 2020. What's not to love? | |  | | Today's topic: Jeff Sessions is out. What does that mean for the Mueller probe? | |
THE MIDTERMS WERE ONLY YESTERDAY | |  | How the 2018 midterms will change Washington | | | The Democrats took the House, but Republicans held the Senate. What does that split power mean between now and 2020? Nothing good -- unless you like partisan sniping and a whole lot of inaction, Chris says. We'll have new videos every day this week! Subscribe to CNN on YouTube to keep up. | | | It looks like we could be headed for recounts in two close races: 🍑 Georgia governor: Democrat Stacey Abrams refuses to concede to Republican Brian Kemp. Kemp leads Abrams by nearly 68,000 votes but, with 50.4% of the vote, is just 0.4% over the threshold needed to prevent a runoff election next month.
CNN's Veronica Stracqualursi and Devan Cole report that Abrams said she is holding off on conceding to see if a runoff is possible. 🐊 Florida Senate: In the race between Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and Republican Rick Scott, a recount will be triggered if the vote result is less than a 0.5% margin.
The initial vote count won't be done until Friday at noon, but CNN's projections show Scott's lead within that recount kickoff margin, according to CNN's Caroline Kelly. | |
SINGIN' SENATOR-ELECT ROMNEY | | Mitt Romney went everywhere across Utah during his successful Senate bid.
Perhaps feeling a bit nostalgic, Romney sang a little ditty about his travels -- and lucky for us, posted it on Twitter with the missive: "This campaign has been quite the ride. Thank you, Utah." | | Local returns delivered some surprising results last night, but nothing as, um, intriguing, as this news out of Nevada:
Dennis Hof, a brothel owner and reality TV star -- who died last month -- won an election for Nevada's 36th Assembly District Tuesday night, the Nevada Secretary of State's office said.
Hof, a Republican who was found dead on October 16, beat his living Democratic opponent by 7,000 votes. According to state law, county officials will name a Republican who also lives in the district to replace him. | |  | | From Brenna: "The 'Bachelor'-starved public got a little something today when President Trump kind of randomly asked VP Pence if he would join his 2020 ticket. (He said yes!) VP Pence, will you accept this ... impromptu invitation to do 2016 all over again? Share The Point with your running mate." | | | | | | |
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