Actually, Trump Is Doing A Lot Of Repealing And Replacing

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From a longer piece by Kathleen Parker for WaPo

Eventually, everyone in this town seems to wind up with the word “poor” in front of his or her name.

Such a fate is especially likely if one has associated with President Trump. As in, Poor Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He is latest to the firing line that has included such formerlys as FBI director James B. Comey, national security adviser Michael Flynn and acting attorney general Sally Yates, as well as the “voluntarily resigned” – press secretary Sean Spicer and communications director Michael Dubke.

Trump has begun making inquiries about firing Sessions, barring a resignation prompted by the president’s tweeted attempts at shaming him into resigning. His crime? A perceived lack of loyalty. Having recused himself from involvement in the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation – and, therefore, from defending the president, as Trump sees it – Sessions is no longer useful. (For the record, Sessions did reportedly offer to resign at one point.)

Speaking of loyalty, Trump offers little of what he expects from others. Way back in early 2016, when few were willing to sidle up to the Republican front-runner, Sessions bet the farm on this reality-show celebrity. He was the first sitting senator to endorse Trump, trading his legacy for the near-certain promise of a top position in the new administration.

Whatever Sessions’s hopes for the job, Trump apparently assumed that the attorney general would serve at his pleasure, regardless of what inconvenient ethics might preclude Sessions from also acting as the president’s personal defense attorney – that is, should any preemptive measures prove inadequate to thwart unwanted scrutiny.

Sessions’s recusal wasn’t only correct but also probably unavoidable. It was revealed the day before his announcement that he had twice met with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, in July and September of 2016, despite having said during his confirmation hearing that he hadn’t. Like so many others who joined the Trump White House, Sessions seemed to have forgotten the meetings.

Kislyak must be one forgettable fellow.

Everyone he meets from Trump World suffers amnesia, recalling not so much as a handshake. Though I’ve not had the pleasure, Kislyak looks like a jovial sort who enjoys a hearty chuckle.

His sides must be splitting these days as Trump repeals and replaces officials who are investigating Russia or who deny knowing any Russians.

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