With the firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions coming only ONE DAY after the midterm election, all eyes fell squarely on Matthew Whitaker, Trump's new Acting Attorney General.
Whereas Sessions rightly recused himself from overseeing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, given the "disqualification arising from personal or political relationship" with Trump – Sessions worked in the Trump campaign, the focus of Mueller's probe – Whitaker, too, should not be able to oversee this investigation.
The Acting AG has already appeared on television and written an op-ed to suggest kneecapping the special counselor's investigation by decimating its budget or severely limiting its scope. This is clearly a political conflict of interest, in violation of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, which directs the attorney general to create rules requiring disqualification of Justice Department employees in cases of personal, financial, or political conflict of interest, or the appearance thereof.
Furthermore, Whitaker also has a personal relationship with Trump, having worked closely with him as Sessions' Chief of Staff. Any way you cut it, he will not be an impartial arbiter of justice.
We demand that Matthew Whitaker, a non-Senate-confirmed political staffer with allegiance only to Donald Trump, recuse himself to ensure that Robert Mueller's necessary investigation continue unhindered. We will not stand for such blatantly obvious, banana republic-style tactics from the president to insulate himself from justice.
