November 7, 2018

On Wednesday, November 7th, Jeff Sessions issued a statement resigning his post as Attorney General, per the request of President Donald Trump.

Whoever is tagged as Sessions’ replacement must be unbiased by personal politics or political interests. The urgency of this demand is underscored by the serious impact which Sessions’ actions have already had on underserved communities during his time as attorney general. The context surrounding Sessions’ resignation, namely, the Russia investigation led by special prosecutor Robert Mueller is extremely peculiar because of the man who will replace Sessions as acting attorney general, Matthew G. Whitaker.

Most recently, Whitaker served as the Chief of Staff to Sessions, and wrote an op-ed for CNN in which he criticizes Mueller’s investigation for having gone “too far,” citing concerns over the effect of the investigation on Trump and his family. Whitaker also calls Mueller “overzealous,” and demands that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein limit the scope of his investigation. By claiming that Mueller goes too far while also demanding that the scope of his investigation be limited, Whitaker reveals himself to be a biased overseer.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called for Whitaker to separate himself from the Mueller investigation during his time as Acting Attorney General. In light of his public criticism of Mueller’s investigation, we believe Whitaker should follow the lead set by his predecessor and recuse himself from the Russia investigation.