Tag: resign

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Sen. Bob Menendez Tells Allies He Will Resign

UPDATE: Later in the day, Sen. Bob Menendez told CBS News he has not spoken to allies about resigning. Stay tuned… Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) has reportedly told allies he will resign his Senate seat after being convicted on federal corruption charges yesterday. Continue reading “Sen. Bob Menendez Tells Allies He Will Resign”

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Labor Secretary Alex Acosta Resigns Amid Epstein Controversy

Former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta

The New York Times reports that R. Alexander Acosta, his embattled secretary of labor, will resign following controversy over a lenient plea deal he made with Jeffrey Epstein when he was a prosecutor in Florida.

Donald Trump made the announcement as he left the White House for travel to Milwaukee and Cleveland.

Mr. Trump said Mr. Acosta called him this morning and that it was Mr. Acosta’s decision to resign.

Trump continues to moan about how poorly Acosta has been treated over a 12-year-old case.

But, you don’t hear him expressing concern for the allegedly victims in the Jeffrey Epstein case.

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions Resigns ‘At The Request’ Of Donald Trump

Jeff Sessions

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has resigned at the request of the president.

Isn’t that like being fired?

Via Buzzfeed:

Sessions’ resignation comes a day after the midterm elections, which was long seen as the expiration date for Sessions’ tenure as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer. Trump made clear his displeasure with Sessions early on, but wasn’t expected to make any major changes in his cabinet before the election.

Trump later confirmed in a tweet that he had accepted Sessions’ resignation and thanked him for his service. An administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Kelly called Sessions before the president held a press conference midday Wednesday to ask for his resignation.

Session’s chief of staff Matthew Whitaker will take over as acting attorney general, while the White House seeks a permanent replacement, Trump tweeted shortly after Sessions’ letter became public.

Whitaker, who will be sworn in on Wednesday, will take on oversight of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, assuming there are no ethics issues that would prevent him from doing so.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein — who was still in his job as of Wednesday afternoon — had taken on responsibility for the probe after Sessions recused last year.

Under Justice Department regulations, Mueller can only be removed from office “for misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or for other good cause.”

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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Might Have Just Resigned

Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein

There are mixed signals coming out of Washington this morning as Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has reportedly offered to resign in the wake of a New York Times story last week that alleged he offered to ‘secretly record’ Donald Trump in the White House in an effort to reveal the chaotic nature of the Trump administration.

Axios’ Jonathan Swan tweets that Rosenstein has already ‘verbally’ resigned.

But The New York Times isn’t so sure what the current status is:

It was not immediately clear whether he expected to be fired by Mr. Trump or whether he planned to resign.

Justice Department officials said on Monday morning that he was on his way to the White House expecting to be fired.

But over the weekend, Mr. Rosenstein called a White House official and said he was considering quitting, and a person close to the White House said he was resigning.

It was also unclear whether Mr. Trump would accept a resignation that would likely thrust the administration into further turmoil just weeks before November’s midterm elections.

NBC’s Pete Williams says Rosenstein WON’T resign but will force Trump to fire him to get rid of him.

Apparently, it makes a big difference in how the position would be filled depending on if Rosenstein is fired or quits.

If a resignation occurs, Trump can choose whoever he likes to fill Rosenstein’s job.

But if he is fired, Trump will need to appoint an already-Senate-approved candidate.

The big question many are asking is who would oversee the current investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller with Rosenstein gone. The answer seems to be solicitor general, Noel Francisco.

This is all, clearly, a developing story.