But Pruitt has remained in Trump’s good graces for the most part, though a source who is familiar with the matter said the President’s confidence in him has faltered some in light of the ethics issues. However, Trump is hesitant to fire him because he likes entertaining the idea of replacing Sessions with Pruitt eventually and feels confident that he will continue to advance his agenda at the EPA in the meanwhile.
Justice Department under fire
The suggestion of replacing Sessions with a scandal-ridden Pruitt comes as Trump continues to rage against both the attorney general and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein.
Trump chatters often about ousting both, multiple sources familiar with his thinking told CNN. But his advisers have repeatedly tried to thwart this by convincing him that doing so would be damaging in the midterms, given how popular Sessions is with conservatives.
These same advisers have also argued that firing Rosenstein could delay the completion of special counsel Robert Mueller’s obstruction of justice probe while creating unwanted headlines.
The President has especially focused his frustration on Rosenstein in recent weeks, often repeating his complaint that he is weak and not on his team, sources familiar with the President’s grievances have said. Rosenstein resurfaced as a source of the President’s wrath because of photo of him
dining with Sessions and Solicitor General Noel Francisco at a popular Washington restaurant. Earlier that same day, Trump had criticized Sessions on Twitter.
Though Trump has laid off shaming Sessions publicly, sources who are familiar with their relationship caution that he hasn’t privately backed off his criticism. These people often wait for Trump’s hostility toward Sessions to resurface and several were stunned that he never
tweeted about Sessions being on the cover of Time magazine.
The cover featured a shadowy photo of the former Alabama senator with the phrase “Nobody’s above the law” plastered across his right shoulder in all capital letters. Trump’s white-hot anger has been trained on Sessions for over a year now since the attorney general recused himself from overseeing the Russia investigation.
But Trump has repeatedly mused about firing many in his administration, so him discussing it doesn’t necessarily mean he will.
For now, Sessions’ allies feel that his job is safe, buoyed by the muted White House response after Sessions launched his first public rebuttal to Trump after the President criticized his “disgraceful” handling of Republican allegations of surveillance abuses at the department and FBI.
Overall, Trump has continued to vent about the Russia investigation, lamenting how “unfair” he believes the entire ordeal is.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak and Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.