President Trump today spent Labor Day slamming his own Attorney General Jeff Sessions over criminal charges brought against two Republican congressmen in recent weeks, suggesting that the Department of Justice had endangered GOP hopes of retaining both seats in the November elections.
“Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department,” Trump tweeted.
“Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff,” he continued.
The president was referencing charges against Reps. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) and Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), both of whom were early supporters of Trump.
So much for the Rule of Law.
The Justice Department charged Collins early last month with securities fraud and lying to the FBI about his efforts to tip off family members with nonpublic stock information to help them avoid hundreds of thousands of dollars in investment losses.
Collins, the first member of Congress to endorse Trump in the 2016 election, has professed his innocence, but suspended his reelection campaign. The insider trading allegations against him are from last year.
Weeks later, the DOJ charged Hunter and his wife, Margaret Hunter, with misusing $250,000 in campaign funds, and falsifying campaign records to the Federal Election Commission to conceal the purchases.
Hunter allegedly used campaign funds to pay for his family’s dental work, his children’s tuition, international travel for nearly a dozen relatives, fast food, golf outings and more.
The California congressman echoed Trump in his vow to fight the charges, claiming the DOJ has a “political agenda.”
The president added in a tweet Monday afternoon that Democrats “must love” Sessions in the wake of the charges, likening his popularity to former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired last year.
Trump inaccurately claimed no Democrats voted to confirm Sessions, when Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) did vote in Sessions’s favor.