What if AG Sessions isn't Asleep, but Instead Playing Possum?

By Brian C. Joondeph  /  American Thinker

Conventional wisdom is that Attorney General Jeff Sessions is asleep at the wheel – from recusing himself unnecessarily from the Trump-Russia collusion investigation to doing nothing about the politicization and weaponization of the Department of Justice.  He also gave free rein to his deputy A.G., Rod Rosenstein, who is in turn allowing Special Counsel Robert Mueller unlimited time, money, and jurisdiction to investigate President Trump’s entire life.

Last summer, Trump expressed disappointment in Sessions, calling him “beleaguered,” wondering why Sessions wasn’t looking into Hillary Clinton’s emails and true election chicanery.  Rudy Giuliani was floated as a possible replacement.  Was Trump truly upset, or was this a calculated head fake?

In a recent blog posting, American Thinker editor Thomas Lifson, referencing Sundance from Conservative Treehouse, made the case that the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General is where the real action is taking place.  Here was an explanation why Rosenstein gave evasive answers in recent congressional testimony and a suggestion that the OIG is laying out a case, slowly and methodically, with selective information release, before bringing the hammer down on the leakers and corruptocrats in the FBI and DOJ.

I want to take this a step farther, perhaps answering the question of where Jeff Sessions is and whether he is asleep, or just playing possum.  Perhaps I can explain why he is acting not as a Trumpian pit bull, but instead like Mister Rogers ready for his afternoon nap.

Jeff Sessions is a political appointee, appointed by President Trump.  The president, as we all know, is despised by Democrats, many establishment Republicans, and the media.  Any actions Trump or Sessions take will be viewed through the lens of obstruction of justice.  Firing Mueller or Rosenstein or shutting down the investigation would allow eager Democrats and NeverTrump Republicans to tut-tut over threats to the Constitution and to initiate impeachment proceedings.

Instead, by lying low, the OIG can carefully build a case.  The OIG is not a political office, but instead “[a] statutorily created independent entity whose mission is to detect and deter waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct in DOJ programs and personnel.”  Above politics.  Beyond reproach.  As much as any government bureaucracy can be.

Jeff Sessions must keep his hands clean of this entire investigation, letting the OIG present its findings and recommendations.  If I.G. recommends prosecution, A.G. Sessions can follow the OIG recommendations and unleash the cannons on the swamp creatures.  Sure, the media and their Democrat allies will explode with rage, but it will be a politically independent organization making the recommendations, not the Trump administration, whether the president or his A.G.

Despite the left making this entirely political, for Trump to deliver a knockout punch, he has to let Lady Justice swing the axe.  He has to keep politics out of his counterpunch.

Will Rod Rosenstein be fired, as some fake news sources suggest?  Or is he in on the OIG sting operation?  Deliberately staying quiet so events can play out, as Sundance described?

For now, I give A.G. Sessions the benefit of the doubt, that for optical and political reasons, he is lying low.  For the OIG investigation to play out as desired, he has little choice.  With the OIG report due early next year, this may indeed be the calm before the storm.  Thousands of sealed indictments.  Members of Congress retiring or not seeing re-election.  Trump acting happy and confident, whether in speeches or on Twitter.

Further bolstering my theory is that Democrats are getting nervous.  The Mueller circus has made a critical pivot from Trump-Russia collusion to Obama-Clinton-FBI-DOJ collusion.  The Daily Caller reports, “Democrats mobilize against Rod Rosenstein as Inspector General investigation zeroes in on FBI.”  Turn on the light, and the cockroaches scurry. 

Trump has been viciously attacked from the day in 2015 when he announced his candidacy.  Like Superman, the bullets have bounced off his chest, wounding many of those who attacked him.  It’s likely that this entire investigation will have the same outcome.

I’m confident that President Trump has this well in hand, early on setting the stage for an upcoming reckoning – what Sundance calls “the big ugly.”

And Jeff Sessions, instead of being asleep, may be playing possum, lying in wait, ready to pounce when the moment is right.

Brian C Joondeph, M.D., MPS is a Denver-based physician and writer.  Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. 

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