washington u.s. attorney general jeff sessions oversee federal bureau investigation friday offer tepid endorsement nation lead law enforcement agency attack president donald trump republicans trump say early month fbi reputation tatters news come light fbi agent team investigate link russia trump election campaign exchange anti-trump text message fbi lawyer sessions friday defend bureau part department justice lead enthusiastic endorsement share view fbi function high level country tell news conference sessions comment come time former fbi director robert mueller lead investigation russian interference 2016 presidential election sample texts agent peter strzok fbi lawyer lisa page release congress media early week two refer trump idiot also take aim politicians include democrat hillary clinton lose trump 2016 election independent bernie sanders seek democratic nomination president strzok transfer mueller team texts provide fresh fodder republicans fiercely criticize mueller move democrats say effort discredit russia investigation russia deny meddle 2016 election trump repeatedly say campaign collude russia sessions late senior official defend fbi comment much mild fbi director christopher wray deputy attorney general rod rosenstein recent testimony congress sessions say trump support fbi note trump speak early friday class domestic international law enforcement managers graduate fbi train program quantico virginia however audience consist fbi agents trump speech local state police officer sessions also duck question whether appoint second special counsel investigate bias allegations mueller team republicans demand attorney general sessions lukewarm praise fbi trump attack