“Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Midterms, 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 Democrats, none of whom voted for Jeff Sessions, must love him now. Same thing with Lyin’ James Comey. The Dems all hated him, wanted him out, thought he was disgusting — UNTIL I FIRED HIM! Immediately he became a wonderful man, a saint like figure in fact. Really sick!”

Exactly what course Trump would have preferred is up for debate. He has repeatedly defended allies that the Justice Department investigated, accusing them of being treated “very unfairly” by overzealous prosecutions and in some cases granting them pardons. Trump seems to have walked up to that line by describing Hunter and Collins as “very popular Republican Congressmen” (despite there being no indication either man was especially or unusually popular, and the evidence in both cases being extensive and appearing rather damning. Both deny wrongdoing).

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But mostly what Trump seems to be saying is that Sessions has saddled the GOP with electoral liabilities thanks to the timing of the indictments. He calls both “Obama era” investigations — despite both men's alleged wrongdoing taking place in 2017 — and suggests Sessions created an unnecessary headache. Trump doesn't seem to be saying so much that Sessions shouldn't have indicted the men, as much as that he shouldn't have done it now.

That's problematic for a host of reasons. The biggest is that the alternative is to delay prosecutions to help Republicans. Trump would probably argue that he's saying no indictments should be handed down this close to an election, regardless of party. But the Justice Department has an informal rule about these things — avoiding indictments within 60 days of an election — and it abided by that rule.

What's more, Trump clearly places this in the partisan context, suggesting Sessions should be considering not just the 2018 election but the GOP's own fortunes in it. If he stopped at the first tweet, that wouldn't have been so obvious; the second tweet makes clear Trump wants to paint Sessions as a partisan traitor who isn't looking out for the GOP. He even compares him to former FBI director James B. Comey, who has said Trump repeatedly requested loyalty and even suggested he back off unhelpful investigations.

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That's . . . not a particularly helpful parallel for Trump when it comes to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's obstruction of justice investigation.

Two of Trump's regular critics in the GOP Senate were quick to argue that Trump was trying to politicize the Justice Department. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) released a statement saying, “The United States is not some banana republic with a two-tiered system of justice — one for the majority party and one for the minority party.” Sen Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) tweeted that Trump was “looking to use the Department of Justice to settle political scores."

None of this is surprising from Trump. He's made abundantly clear his feelings on the role that Sessions and the Justice Department should play in protecting him and targeting Hillary Clinton. Where this episode differs is that he extends that idea to saying the Justice Department should also be looking out for fellow Republicans, too. He's not saying the DOJ works for him and should do his bidding, so much as it should be attentive to partisan political considerations. It's even more blatant than usual.

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Trump is mostly trying to turn his party against Sessions — to create a pretext for his fellow Republicans to support a move to replace Sessions as attorney general, which seems increasingly likely to happen after the midterm elections. But in what is expected to be a charged debate over Sessions's successor — a debate likely to try even some Republican senators wary of Trump's maneuvers — tweets like the ones Sunday aren't exactly going to tamp down the idea Trump is searching for a political crusader to lead the DOJ.