Gary Palmer caught in Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump crossfire

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Gary Palmer opinion

Alabama 7th District U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer has been caught in the crossfire between President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Last week, Trump fired several barbs at Sessions, telling Fox news channel’s “Fox & Friends” that Sessions “took the job and then he said, ‘I’m going to recuse myself.”

“[He] never took control of the Justice Department and it’s a sort of an incredible thing,” Trump continued.

Sessions then fired back at the president, saying that the Justice department would not be “improperly influenced by political considerations.”

Rachael Bade, a Politico reporter and CNN political analyst, appeared on CNN Friday, saying she contacted Palmer to speak with him on the subject.

“I called Gary Palmer, who is a Republican from Alabama, close with Sessions, yesterday to get his take on this sort of back and forth,” Bade said according to CNN Transcripts. “At one point Gary Palmer was very adamantly defending and blasting his colleagues who were in any way criticizing Sessions. But Gary Palmer told me he has his own problems with Sessions. And he specifically listed some of those things that the president was tweeting about this morning regarding document production to Congress, Rod Rosenstein perhaps not being the best person to be working in the Justice Department, according to him.”

“And he was unhappy with certain things that Sessions was doing,” Bade continued. “So I just — I think it’s really interesting, the conversation is changing. And I don’t think that’s a good sign for Sessions. It’s a matter of time, I think, before he goes.”

Palmer responded on Twitter by calling out CNN, and denying that the story was true.

“A recent CNN news story mischaracterized my trust in Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He has my full trust and I think he’s done an excellent job in de-politicizing the DOJ. The DOJ has many ongoing investigations and Jeff Sessions will ultimately be judged by their outcomes,” Palmer tweeted.

“As it stands, Jeff Sessions is doing his job when the only leaks are coming from those being investigated. While I share the President’s concerns about the Russia investigation and believe it should end, Jeff Sessions is recused from that,” he continued. “On the other hand, I think Rod Rosenstein has not represented the DOJ well, especially regarding Congressional oversight and document production. This is what I told the CNN reporter; CNN reinterpreting my comments for the sake of headlines is the very definition of fake news.”