Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought. II

Drawing by Glenn McCoy, via Valley News.

I'm still stuck on this question of why Trump should be so offended at Sessions's insisting on recusing himself. As if it were a bad habit, you know, that people should be able to easily control; "What kind of man is this?":

"Jeff Sessions recused himself which he shouldn't have done or he should have told me," the president said. "Even my enemies say that Jeff Sessions should have told you that he was going to recuse himself and then you wouldn't have put him in.

"(Sessions) took the job and then he said 'I'm going to recuse myself.' And I said 'what kind of man is this?' By the way, he was on the campaign. The only reason I gave him the job was I felt loyalty. He was an original supporter. He was on the campaign. He knows there was no collusion."

Why should Trump in the wake of the election have expected Sessions not to recuse himself in the Russia investigation? Or rather why should Trump have assumed he knew what Sessions would say if somebody asked him to recuse himself from it, so he could subsequently be so disappointed with Session's failure to do it? Given how unclear Trump seems to be, at the same time, as to what "recusal" actually means?


November 2016, Trump Tower Transition Offices. Desk piled with magazine clippings, Donald J. Trump behind them frowning at a nervous Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III.

TRUMP

See, what I need, really, what I need in the Justice Department is a Roy Cohn. I mean not a Jewish one, obviously, and not a guy with AIDS. Guy had AIDS and shook my hand without saying a word!  And he knew I was a germophobe, obviously. It's the one thing I can't forgive, I'm sorry.

SESSIONS

You have nothing to apologize for, Mr. President-Elect, in my opinion!

TRUMP

What? [beat]

What I'm saying, when you're a successful businessman, and I'm probably the most successful businessman you've ever met, have you looked at this spectacular building, when you're successful in this way, you have to do certain things that to the ordinary Joe might seem to be a little illegal. Or even very illegal, who knows, this stuff is primarily a matter of opinion. For example, I've never been convicted of anything, and yet some of my best friends will tell you I'm a criminal. That's partly because they all have great senses of humor, I think.

But what I've found in my experience is lawyers are absolutely key. You need lawyers and you need them all over the place. I had to send my Michael Cohen to Czechoslovakia, which doesn't even exist any more, a lot of people don't realize that. I have to have a lawyer inside the Justice Department, which is something that was invented by JFK, when Hoover was spying on him. JFK would have been impeached for all the broads he was banging, but his brother Bobby, who was a good friend of Roy Cohn, protected him. This is the way I understand it. In my case it's mostly business deals. I already have a lawyer to take care of who I bang and frankly nobody cares about that any more anyway. It's the moral degeneration that's taken place in this country like you wouldn't believe.

But what am I saying, you know Flynn, right, and you know his friend Sergey, the fat guy, and you know there's this confidential deal we did last summer, and Flynn says you should be in the Justice Department. And his friend Sergey too.

SESSIONS

I would be beyond measure honored by your confidence, Mr. President-Elect!

TRUMP

What? [beat]

To me you talk funny, frankly. You're a funny little guy and you have an accent I am not used to. I got Christie who would blow me in public if I asked him, I got Rudy Giuliani who was the best prosecutor New York ever had, they would never be allowing rapist black joggers to run free in Central Park if he was still in office. Do you believe in DNA evidence?

SESSIONS

Sir, it is mentioned neither in the Holy Book nor in Blackstone and I cannot but view it with the utmost suspicion.

TRUMP

Well, that's something, and Flynn thinks you're the guy, but I have to ask: are you going to have my back?

SESSIONS

Sir, I assure you, there is no part of your body that I shall not treasure as I would my own!

TRUMP

No, I mean serious, those guys are after the Russians for some reason, they told me last August, for all I know they could be investigating Sergey himself, and that Comey guy won't say he'll have my back."I'll be loyal to the country," he says, I'm like I know that, I need to know what are you going to do for me? If I give you the gig will you make sure they don't start investigating me?

SESSIONS

Mr. President-Elect, I shall never give you up, I shall never let you down, I shall never run around and I shall never desert you!!!

TRUMP

Oh well, then, I guess that's OK.