Jeff Sessions
U.S. Senator, Alabama · 1997–2017
Jeff Sessions was the first sitting U.S. Senator to endorse Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign — in February 2016, when Trump was still considered a longshot. It was an enormous act of political credibility-lending. Sessions gave Trump legitimacy in the Senate and the South, and his endorsement helped break open the Republican establishment's resistance. Trump was grateful.
Sessions became Attorney General. When the Russia investigation began, Sessions — who had met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign and had not disclosed it — recused himself from overseeing the investigation, as the law and Justice Department ethics rules required. He was right to do it. Trump never forgave him for it.
What followed was a year and a half of sustained public humiliation. Trump called Sessions 'Mr. Magoo' in private and 'beleaguered' in public. He tweeted attacks at Sessions repeatedly. He told interviewers he never would have chosen Sessions if he'd known he would recuse. Sessions finally resigned in November 2018 at Trump's request. He then tried to win back his old Senate seat in 2020 — and lost the Republican primary to Tommy Tuberville, a football coach Trump endorsed over him. Sessions had nothing left.
Sessions becomes the first sitting U.S. Senator to endorse Trump, lending the campaign substantial credibility at a pivotal moment in the primary. He campaigns with Trump, appears at rallies, and helps normalize Trump's candidacy among Republican voters.
Sessions is confirmed as Attorney General. He begins a tenure defined by immigration enforcement, drug policy hardening, and loyalty to Trump's agenda.
Sessions recuses himself from any investigation involving the 2016 Trump campaign, after it emerges he did not disclose his meetings with Russian Ambassador Kislyak during his confirmation testimony. Trump is immediately furious. He reportedly asks White House counsel Don McGahn to pressure Sessions to un-recuse himself. McGahn refuses.
Trump publicly and repeatedly attacks Sessions via Twitter, in interviews, and to White House staff. He calls him 'beleaguered,' 'weak,' and 'Mr. Magoo.' He tells interviewers he would never have appointed Sessions if he had known Sessions would recuse. Sessions continues doing his job and says nothing publicly.
Sessions resigns at Trump's request, the day after the midterm elections. Trump immediately appoints Matthew Whitaker — a loyalist with no relevant experience — as acting AG to oversee the Mueller investigation.
Sessions runs for his old Alabama Senate seat. Trump endorses Tommy Tuberville — a college football coach — against him in the Republican primary. Tuberville wins. Sessions, the man who gave Trump the Senate's credibility in 2016, loses his home state primary to a football coach because Trump said so.