US attorney general hits back at Trump

International Desk: US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has responded to Donald Trump's latest attack on him by insisting that the justice department he heads will not bend to political pressure.

The apparent rebuke of Mr Trump came after the president said Mr Sessions was not in control of his department.

Mr Trump has been vociferous in his criticism of the Department of Justice.

He has been particularly riled by its handling of the inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Mr Sessions, an early supporter of Mr Trump's campaign, has stepped aside from that inquiry to avoid a potential conflict of interest and handed control to his deputy, Rod Rosenstein.

That decision by Mr Sessions, and the ongoing progress of the inquiry under special counsel Robert Mueller - which is also reportedly now looking into whether Mr Trump has attempted to obstruct justice - have provoked frequent outbursts from the president, both in person and on his Twitter feed.

The president remains insistent that there was no collusion between his campaign and the Russian government, and denies he has attempted to obstruct justice.

After the latest exchanges, two key Republican senators signalled that they would support Mr Trump if he were to fire Mr Sessions after the November mid-term elections.

However, other Republicans told Politico they thought this would be a bad move and said they were standing by the attorney general.

Agencies


risingbd/Dhaka/Aug 24, 2018/Nasim