President Trump spoke with reporters on Tuesday while traveling back to the United States after his Asia trip. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times
WASHINGTON — President Trump .. https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/donald-trump .. did not need to send a memo or telephone his attorney general to make his desires known. He broadcast them for all the world to see on Twitter ..
Everybody is asking why the Justice Department (and FBI) isn't looking into all of the dishonesty going on with Crooked Hillary & the Dems..
Mr. Sessions has made no decision, and in soliciting the assessment of department lawyers, he may be seeking a way out of the bind his boss has put him in. At a congressional hearing on Tuesday, he pushed back against Republicans impatient for a special counsel. But if he or his deputy ultimately does authorize a new investigation of Mrs. Clinton, it would shatter post-Watergate norms intended to prevent presidents from using law enforcement agencies against political rivals.
The request alone was enough to incite a political backlash, as critics of Mr. Trump quickly denounced what they called “banana republic” politics of retribution, akin to autocratic nations where election losers are jailed by winners.
“You can be disappointed, but don’t be surprised,” said Karen Dunn, a former prosecutor and White House lawyer under President Barack Obama .. https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/barack-obama .. who advised Mrs. Clinton during her campaign. “This is exactly what he said he would do: use taxpayer resources to pursue political rivals.”
[...]
At Tuesday’s hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Mr. Sessions denied that he was responding to Mr. Trump’s public pressure. “A president cannot improperly influence an investigation,” he said, “and I have not been improperly influenced and would not be improperly influenced. The president speaks his mind. He’s a bold and direct about what he says, but people elected him. But we do our duty every day based on the law and facts.”
Even as he rebuffed Democrats suggesting he had been compromised, Mr. Sessions pushed back against Republicans who pressed him on why he had not already appointed a special counsel. “What’s it going to take to get a special counsel?” demanded Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio.
“It would take a factual basis that meets the standards of the appointment of a special counsel,” Mr. Sessions said.
"Twice, in July and September, Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee have requested that the Justice Department appoint a special counsel to investigate a host of matters related to Ms. Clinton and former FBI director James B. Comey. On Monday, the department notified committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) that “senior federal prosecutors” will determine whether the majority’s concerns merit an investigation by the Justice Department or an additional special counsel.
On seeing the the "July" letters stuff above there was a 'tinkle tinkle' sound. Wasn't that about the time the Steele document blossomed into the public arena? So, to timeline?
Natasha Bertrand On Donald Trump Dossier Allegations: "Coincidence" Is A Generous Word | MSNBC
Published on Oct 8, 2017 New reporting overlays a timeline of known contacts between Trump associates and Russian officials against a salacious (but unverified) dossier about Trump. The author, Natasha Bertrand, discusses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaqrneGfK6w