The New York Times's Michael Schmidt told MSNBC Friday morning that President Trump
Donald John TrumpFed saw risks to US economy fading before coronavirus spread quickened Pro-Trump super PAC hits Biden with new Spanish-language ad in Nevada Britain announces immigration policy barring unskilled migrants MORE "views his attorney general as a protector."
"What we learned about is how the president views his attorney general," Schmidt, a Washington correspondent for The New York Times and MSNBC contributor, said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"He views his attorney general as a protector, as someone there to be a buffer and safeguard. He had his White House counsel, his top lawyer, go to the attorney general in March and say, 'Look, don’t recuse yourself from the Russian investigation. There is no reason to do that.'"
"And then after the president found out he was going to recuse, he got extremely angry," he continued. "He said, you know, 'Barack Obama
Barack Hussein ObamaPro-Trump super PAC hits Biden with new Spanish-language ad in Nevada Meghan McCain rips Blagojevich pardon: He is 'like the swampiest swamp creature in the world' Ex-Obama aides say Bloomberg-Obama relationship more 'complicated' than his ads portray MORE had Eric Holder
Eric Himpton HolderIf Roger Stone were a narco, he'd be in the clear Trump flexes pardon power with high-profile clemencies They forgot that under Trump, there are two sets of rules MORE, JFK had RFK. Where is my Roy Cohn?' referring to his long-term personal lawyer and saying, 'Where is this person to protect me?' And that, for us, really provided a window into how he viewed the top law enforcement position, the top person underneath him at a time that the Russia investigation was accelerating."
Schmidt's comments reference a report he published in The New York Times late Thursday, which focused on Trump's desire to stop Sessions from recusing himself in 2017.
Last July, Trump had complained to Schmidt and fellow New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman in an interview about the decision to recuse by Sessions that eventually led to the appointment of a special counsel led by former FBI Director Robert Mueller
Robert (Bob) Swan MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE.
“Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else,” Trump told the reporters in a wide-ranging interview on June 19.
“Jeff Sessions
Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsTrump looms as flashpoint in Alabama Senate battle Trump tweets test Attorney General Barr The Hill's Morning Report - Sanders on the rise as Nevada debate looms MORE takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the president,” he added. “How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, ‘Thanks, Jeff, but I’m not going to take you.’ It’s extremely unfair — and that’s a mild word — to the president," he added.
Mueller was appointed as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian collusion with Trump campaign associates shortly after the president fired then-FBI Director James Comey
James Brien ComeyBlagojevich heaps praise on Trump after release from prison Free Roger Stone The Hill's Morning Report - In Nevada, bets on Sanders, eyes on Bloomberg MORE on May 17.
