Democrats Want Acting Attorney General To Recuse Himself Like Former AG Sessions!

Top Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the ranking members on the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, sounded the alarm after Attorney General Jeff Sessions' abrupt resignation on Wednesday, and demanded that Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker recuse himself from overseeing the inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections.

“This is a break-the-glass moment," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a statement.

The president tweeted that Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney who currently serves as chief of staff to Sessions, will become the acting attorney general, with a permanent replacement to be announced. Trump decided not to elevate Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has been grilled by congressional Republicans -- including some who attempted to impeach him -- for his handling of federal investigations related to Trump's team.

In his new capacity, Whitaker is the head official at the Justice Department, and at least for now, oversees the Mueller probe and the agency's other federal investigations, including the New York prosecutors' look into the finances of Trump and his former aides. The DOJ is an Executive Branch department staffed by both career officials, who are shielded from arbitrary termination, and political appointees like Sessions and Whitaker who serve at the president's pleasure.