Attorney General Jeff Sessions hits back at President Trump: Won't be 'improperly influenced'

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, newly incensed by campaign allegations, plunged back into his criticism of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, claiming in an interview that Sessions "never took control of the Justice Department" after Trump put him there. Sessions quickly hit back, declaring that he and his department "will not be improperly influenced by political considerations."

Trump was interviewed on "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday, the day after his former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts — and implicated the president — and former campaign manager Paul Manafort was convicted of financial crimes unrelated to the 2016 presidential campaign. The interview aired Thursday.

Trump has lashed out repeatedly in the past at Sessions, the Alabama Republican who was the first senator to endorse the celebrity businessman but then recused himself shortly after taking office from the special counsel investigation that led to the criminal cases and is still underway into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.

"You know the only reason I gave him the job? Because I felt loyalty, he was an original supporter," Trump said, criticizing Sessions because he, according to the president, "never took control of the Justice Department."

Sessions slapped back in a statement Thursday afternoon, saying he "took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the President's agenda."

He declared that while he's attorney general "the actions" of the DOJ "will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action."

Trump in the interview also said in regard to his former lawyer Cohen that he thought it would be better if "flipping," in which someone's confidant helps prosecutors in return for a lighter sentence, "were illegal because people "just make up lies."

"I know all about flipping," Trump said. "For 30, 40 years I've been watching flippers. Everything's wonderful and then they get 10 years in jail and they — they flip on whoever the next highest one is, or as high as you can go."

That tool "almost ought to be outlawed. It's not fair," Trump said, adding it creates an incentive to "say bad things about somebody ... just make up lies."

Trump tried to play down his relationship with Cohen, his longtime "fixer," who claims the president directed a hush-money scheme to buy the silence of two women who say they had affairs with Trump. The president contends Cohen only worked for him part time and accuses the lawyer of making up stories to reduce his legal exposure.

Trump made the comments as his White House struggled to manage the fallout from Cohen's plea deal and the conviction of Trump's former campaign chairman Manafort on financial charges. The president suggested that Cohen's legal trouble stemmed from his other businesses, including involvement with the New York City taxi cab industry.

The back-to-back legal blows have raised speculation that Democrats would launch impeachment proceedings if they win the House of Representatives this fall. Trump argued such a move would have dire economic consequences.

"If I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash. I think everybody would be very poor," Trump said. He added: "I don't know how you can impeach somebody who's done a great job."

Trump did not say whether he would pardon Manafort, but expressed "great respect" for him and argued that some of the charges "every consultant, every lobbyist in Washington probably does."