"At your request I am submitting my resignation," Sessions wrote in a letter to White House chief of staff John Kelly. 
 
 Matthew Whitaker will take over as acting attorney general, the President said. 
 
 Whitaker is expected to take charge of the Russia investigation and special counsel Robert Mueller from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Whitaker has been openly critical of Mueller and the investigation and Democrats immediately called on him to recuse himself, just as Sessions had. 
 
 "We are pleased to announce that Matthew G. Whitaker, Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Department of Justice, will become our new Acting Attorney General of the United States. He will serve our Country well ...We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well! A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date," Trump tweeted 
 
 JUST WATCHED Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired 01:52 
 
 The move is an abrupt end to what had been a tumultuous tenure for Sessions, originally one of Trump's earliest and most loyal surrogates as an Alabama Republican senator. He was a key figure in implementing Trump's vision for America and significantly rolled back Obama-era policies on immigration, police reform and civil rights. 
 
 Sessions was an enforcer of much of the Trump administration's hardline approach on immigration and regularly praised the President's tough words on crime. But even as he continued to carry out the Trump agenda, his relationship with the President remained strained and fraught for months due to the ongoing Mueller investigation. 
 
 Sessions received the request to resign from Kelly, not the President, on Wednesday morning, an administration official said. It is not clear whether Mueller was told ahead of time. 
 
 Sessions believed that Rosenstein has handled the investigation properly after it was dropped "right in his lap," according to a source familiar with Sessions' thinking. 
 
 "[Rosenstein is] a professional, he's tried to do the right thing and he's handled it as well as anybody could," the source said of Sessions' views on the matter. 
 
 However, the source said that Sessions himself has been frustrated that Mueller's investigation has not yet concluded, but DOJ officials have "tried to do the right thing every day and not be involved in arguing the case in the media." 
 
 In a statement, Whitaker said he will lead a "fair" department with high ethical standards. 
 
 "It is a true honor that the President has confidence in my ability to lead the Department of Justice as Acting Attorney General. I am committed to leading a fair Department with the highest ethical standards, that upholds the rule of law, and seeks justice for all Americans," he said. 
 
 Trump constantly criticized Sessions 
 
 Sessions' ouster came a day after the midterm elections saw Republicans hold onto control of the Senate -- which would confirm Trump's eventual permanent choice to head the Justice Department -- and just weeks after Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to multiple counts of campaign finance violations, tax fraud and bank fraud and Trump's former campaign chair Paul Manafort was found guilty of eight charges including tax fraud and bank fraud. 
 
 Sessions was aware that Cohen was facing bank fraud and tax violations but had been walled off from the campaign finance aspects of the investigation into Trump's former lawyer, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told CNN. 
 
 Trump's distaste for Sessions was well known -- and publicly reinforced by the President himself on a regular basis -- after the attorney general recused himself from all matters related to the 2016 campaign early in Trump's term. 
 
 The President mocked Sessions in August as " scared stiff and Missing in Action ." Later the same month as Trump continued to rail against him, Sessions issued a statement firing back at Trump and declaring, "While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action." 
 
 Just days later, Trump knocked the Sessions-led Justice Department for indicting two Trump-supporting Republican congressmen ahead of the midterm elections. Both lawmakers won their re-election bids Tuesday. 
 
 But Sessions hung on, and although there was no formal reconciliation, the President allowed him to stay, even despite the unwillingness of White House spokespeople to publicly confirm, for days, that Trump had confidence in the attorney general. 
 
 In early August, Trump tweeted that Sessions "should stop" Mueller's investigation, raising questions as to whether the President was attempting to obstruct justice. Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani told CNN's Dana Bash that Trump was merely "expressing his opinion on his favorite medium." 
 
 Sessions, for his part, consistently maintained that his recusal decision was made in consultation with career ethics officials at the Justice Department and was in the works from the time he was sworn in. 
 
 Democrats demand continued independence for Mueller 
 
 Top Democrats immediately called for Mueller's investigation to be allowed to proceed. 
 
 "Given his previous comments advocating defunding and imposing limitations on the Mueller investigation, Mr. Whitaker should recuse himself from its oversight for the duration of his time as acting attorney general," Schumer said. 
 
 Former Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder declared interference with the special counsel "a red line." 
 
 "Anyone who attempts to interfere with or obstruct the Mueller inquiry must be held accountable. This is a red line. We are a nation of laws and norms not subject to the self interested actions of one man," Holder tweeted. 
 
 Anyone who attempts to interfere with or obstruct the Mueller inquiry must be held accountable. This is a red line. We are a nation of laws and norms not subject to the self interested actions of one man. — Eric Holder (@EricHolder) November 7, 2018 
 
 New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler tweeted a vow for accountability. Nadler is poised to chair the House Judiciary Committee next year. 
 
 "Americans must have answers immediately as to the reasoning behind @realDonaldTrump removing Jeff Sessions from @TheJusticeDept. Why is the President making this change and who has authority over Special Counsel Mueller's investigation? We will be holding people accountable," Nadler tweeted. 
 
 Immigration bonded him with Trump from the start 
 
 Sessions' campaign loyalty to Trump earned him a plumb spot in the administration as attorney general, and Sessions' former aides and allies, including prominent Trump adviser Stephen Miller, spread throughout the administration in key posts across multiple agencies. 
 
 Under Sessions, the Justice Department has been aggressive in trying to cut off funds to and punish sanctuary cities -- though the courts have repeatedly admonished many of those efforts -- and was the primary agency that justified the ending of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, a program that protected young undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children. ||||| We now live in a world where the attorney general going out to dinner with two top Justice Department officials is not only news, but a sign that he’s rebelling against the president. As a senator, Jeff Sessions was one of Donald Trump’s earliest supporters, and he served as one of his campaign’s top foreign-policy advisers. But the seeds of the attorney general’s rift with the president were planted during his confirmation hearing, when he offered up some thoughts about Russia collusion that turned out to be not entirely accurate. Here’s how the Trump-Sessions relationship devolved to the point that two 71-year-old lawmakers are barely speaking, lobbing insults on Twitter, and sending passive-aggressive messages with their choice of dinner companion. 
 
 Sessions’s Russia Contacts Are Revealed 
 
 Exactly one year ago, President Trump was basking in the unusually positive reviews from his first address to Congress. The very next day, we learned that Sessions met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak at least twice while working with the Trump campaign — yet during his confirmation hearing he denied, under oath, having any such contacts. 
 
 “I’m not aware of any of those activities,” Sessions said of Trump officials’ Russia contacts, “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.” 
 
 Amid calls for him to step down, at least from the FBI’s Russia investigation, Sessions said he would “recuse myself on anything that I should recuse myself on, that’s all I can tell you.” 
 
 The White House stuck by Sessions, claiming then-Democratic Senator Al Franken pushed the story to distract from Trump’s good press. Trump himself told reporters he had “total” confidence in Sessions and did not think he should recuse himself. 
 
 Sessions Recuses Himself 
 
 The next day Sessions announced he would recuse himself from any investigation into the 2016 campaign. “So in the end I have followed the right procedure,” he said, “… just as I believe any good attorney general should do.” 
 
 Trump Is Furious 
 
 Trump was reportedly livid over Sessions’s recusal. 
 
 Trump left WH in a fury on Friday, fuming about Sessions's recusal and telling aides that Sessions shouldn't have recused himself... — Robert Costa (@costareports) March 4, 2017 
 
 Over the next 48 hours, he lashed out at various Democrats, baselessly accusing President Obama of wiretapping him during the campaign. Many months later, the New York Times reported that Trump instructed White House counsel Don McGahn to keep Sessions from recusing himself, and when he failed Trump attacked his staff: 
 
 Mr. McGahn was unsuccessful, and the president erupted in anger in front of numerous White House officials, saying he needed his attorney general to protect him. Mr. Trump said he had expected his top law enforcement official to safeguard him the way he believed Robert F. Kennedy, as attorney general, had done for his brother John F. Kennedy and Eric H. Holder Jr. had for Barack Obama. 
 
 Mr. Trump then asked, “Where’s my Roy Cohn?” He was referring to his former personal lawyer and fixer, who had been Senator Joseph R. McCarthy’s top aide during the investigations into communist activity in the 1950s and died in 1986. 
 
 Sessions Aids Effort to Discredit Comey 
 
 The Times also reported that despite his recusal, Sessions worked to spread negative information about FBI Director James Comey after he refused to publicly confirm that Trump wasn’t under investigation. 
 
 Two days after Mr. Comey’s testimony, an aide to Mr. Sessions approached a Capitol Hill staff member asking whether the staffer had any derogatory information about the F.B.I. director. The attorney general wanted one negative article a day in the news media about Mr. Comey, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting. 
 
 A Justice Department spokeswoman said the episode did not occur. “This did not happen and would not happen,” said the spokeswoman, Sarah Isgur Flores. “Plain and simple.” 
 
 Trump Fires Comey, Ostensibly Because Sessions Told Him To 
 
 In the statement announcing Comey’s firing on May 9, 2017, the White House said, “President Trump acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.” The administration released a letter from Rosenstein arguing that Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe was inappropriate, and a one-paragraph letter from Sessions saying that he agreed. Later Trump said he’d decided to fire the FBI director regardless of what Rosenstein and Sessions said, referencing the Russia probe. 
 
 Rosenstein Appoints a Special Counsel 
 
 If Trump was firing Comey to curtail the Russia investigation, it backfired spectacularly. Rosenstein, who is in charge of any campaign-related matters thanks to Sessions’s recusal, appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as a special counsel on May 17, 2017, to look into “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump,’’ as well as “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.” Mueller was “authorized to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation of these matters.” 
 
 Trump Berates Sessions in Oval Office 
 
 Shortly after Mueller’s appointment, Trump berated Sessions during an Oval Office meeting, pointing to his recusal as the moment the administration lost control of the Russia probe, according to the Times. Sessions offered to resign, but Trump decided to keep him on after being persuaded that firing him would create a bigger mess: 
 
 Accusing Mr. Sessions of “disloyalty,” Mr. Trump unleashed a string of insults on his attorney general. 
 
 Ashen and emotional, Mr. Sessions told the president he would quit and sent a resignation letter to the White House, according to four people who were told details of the meeting. Mr. Sessions would later tell associates that the demeaning way the president addressed him was the most humiliating experience in decades of public life. 
 
 Priebus Saves Sessions’s Job, Twice 
 
 In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus says he prevented Sessions from resigning on two occasions. Priebus said he learned the AG planned to step down just after the incident in the Oval Office, and he ran to catch up with Sessions before he left. 
 
 “I knocked on the door of the car, and Jeff was sitting there and I just jumped in and shut the door,” Priebus said. “And I said, ‘Jeff, what’s going on?’ And then he told me that he was going to resign. I said, ‘You cannot resign. It’s not possible. We are going to talk about this right now.’ So I dragged him back up to my office from the car.” 
 
 A White House insider said that Trump told Priebus to obtain Sessions’s resignation in June as well, but he talked him out of it, telling him, “If I get this resignation, you are in for a spiral of calamity that makes Comey look like a picnic.’” 
 
 Trump Calls Sessions Recusal “Unfair” 
 
 In his first public attack on Sessions, Trump told the New York Times on July 19, 2017, that he wouldn’t have nominated Sessions if he knew he was going to recuse himself. 
 
 TRUMP: So Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself. I then have — which, frankly, I think is very unfair to the president. How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, “Thanks, Jeff, but I can’t, you know, I’m not going to take you.” It’s extremely unfair, and that’s a mild word, to the president. 
 
 Trump Tries to Humiliate Sessions into Resigning 
 
 Trump doesn’t love firing people when he’s not on a TV set, and at the end of July he lobbed a number of public insults at his attorney general that were widely viewed as attempts to force him to resign. Reports suggested Trump was considering Rudy Giuliani or Senator Ted Cruz as Sessions’s replacement, but both men shot down the idea. Axios reported that he had called a political associate and asked, “What would happen if I fired Sessions?” 
 
 The Washington Post reported that Trump had been musing about using a recess appointment to install a new attorney general without the approval of Congress once Sessions was gone. 
 
 In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump wouldn’t say whether he planned to fire Sessions, and dismissed his early campaign endorsement. “It’s not like a great loyal thing about the endorsement,” Trump said. “I’m very disappointed in Jeff Sessions.” 
 
 He also continued lashing out at Sessions on Twitter: 
 
 So why aren't the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2017 
 
 Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump campaign - "quietly working to boost Clinton." So where is the investigation A.G. @seanhannity — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2017 
 
 Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are E-mails & DNC server) & Intel leakers! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2017 
 
 Why didn't A.G. Sessions replace Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, a Comey friend who was in charge of Clinton investigation but got.... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017 
 
 Sessions said he intended to stay on “as long as that is appropriate.” 
 
 Democrat Wins Sessions’s Old Seat, Humiliating Trump 
 
 Though Sessions had little to do with it, having his old Alabama Senate seat go to a Democrat probably didn’t improve his relationship with Trump. The president initially backed establishment candidate Luther Strange, who had been appointed to replace the AG, but the GOP nomination went to Roy Moore. Trump stuck by Moore even after he was accused of sexually assaulting several teen girls, but Sessions contradicted the official line, saying “I have no reason to doubt these young women.” Democrat Doug Jones wound up winning the December special election. 
 
 FBI Director Threatens to Quit Amid Pressure From Sessions 
 
 Following Trump’s public complaints about FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, Sessions reportedly pressured FBI director Christopher Wray to fire him in December. Wray refused and threatened to quit if Sessions didn’t back off, according to Axios, and McGahn told him it wasn’t worth losing another FBI director. 
 
 Trump Renews Attacks on Sessions, Misspells Name 
 
 After laying off Sessions for a few months, on February 21, 2018, Trump resumed his public shaming of the AG, criticizing him for failing to prosecute Obama for failing to stop the Russian election meddling Trump officials are accused of participating in. Also, in the initial version of the tweet, Trump called him Jeff “Session.” 
 
 Question: If all of the Russian meddling took place during the Obama Administration, right up to January 20th, why aren’t they the subject of the investigation? Why didn’t Obama do something about the meddling? Why aren’t Dem crimes under investigation? Ask Jeff Sessions! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2018 
 
 Trump Lashes Out at Sessions for Following DOJ Rules 
 
 Showing once again that he does not understand how the Justice Department works, Trump was angered by Sessions asking the Justice Department’s inspector general to review Republican claims that Trump campaign officials were improperly surveilled, instead of ordering an investigation. As the Times notes, “an attorney general cannot order an inspector general to investigate anything, only refer information.” 
 
 Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2018 
 
 Sessions Defends Himself 
 
 Rather than silently accepting Trump’s insults as he has so many times in the past, on Wednesday Sessions responded to the president’s “disgraceful” tweet with a statement explaining his actions. 
 
 We have initiated the appropriate process that will ensure complaints against this Department will be fully and fairly acted upon if necessary. As long as I am the attorney general, I will continue to discharge my duties with integrity and honor, and this department will continue to do its work in a fair and impartial manner according to the law and Constitution. 
 
 In case it was not clear that Sessions was siding with the law rather than the president, on Wednesday night he made sure he was spotted dining with Rod Rosenstein and the Solicitor General Noel Francisco — who happen to be the next two people in line to run the Justice Department. 
 
 Scoop: Under attack from Trump, Sessions dines with Rosenstein in show of solidarity https://t.co/Vm92Bn0YEc pic.twitter.com/tuzlWNZj71 — Axios (@axios) March 1, 2018 
 
 A source close to Sessions told Axios that Francisco had requested the meeting some time ago, and it was “in no way planned as pushback or an act of solidarity against the president.” 
 
 Mueller Probes Trump’s Attacks on Sessions 
 
 In addition to revealing that Trump has given Sessions the derisive nickname “Mr. Magoo,” the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Mueller is investigating whether Trump’s efforts to drive Sessions out of his job were part of an effort to obstruct the Russia probe. So now Trump’s anger at Sessions for indirectly starting the Mueller investigation is also fodder for the Mueller investigation. ||||| (CNN) Attorney General Jeff Sessions will soon make an announcement regarding stepped-up efforts on leak investigations, according to an official familiar with the plans. 
 
 CNN has learned that the announcement has been in the works for some time and will now most likely happen in the next week. 
 
 The impending announcement from the Justice Department on leaks, first reported by The Washington Post, deepens the intrigue surrounding a possible detente between Trump and Sessions. 
 
 Hours after attacking Sessions for failing to investigate former 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, the President appeared to make a second demand of his attorney general Tuesday, calling on him to crack down on "leaks" from various intelligence agencies. 
 
 "I want the attorney general to be much tougher on the leaks from intelligence agencies," Trump said. "These are intelligence agencies. We cannot have that happen." 
 
 Anthony Scaramucci, President Donald Trump's new communications director, further telegraphed the announcement on CNN Wednesday morning when asked if Sessions was putting together a plan to investigate leakers in the White House. 
 
 "I wouldn't say just the White House," Scaramucci said. "He's putting a plan together for the interagencies and I want to work very closely with him as the director of communications and I want to work with the other agencies and departments to get our message coordinated amongst ourselves and we want to uproot some of these leakers because, yes, I'm not naïve, I know that we're never going to end all the leaking, I didn't suggest that, but I want to put a culture in place where people trust each other." 
 
 Sessions, for his part, has vowed to close in on intelligences leaks for months. 
 
 Following a diplomatic dust-up over leaks to the media during the UK's investigation into the Manchester terrorist attack in May, Sessions said that "these leaks cannot be tolerated" and pledged to "make every effort to put an end to it." 
 
 "We have already initiated appropriate steps to address these rampant leaks that undermine our national security," Sessions said in a statement at the time. 
 
 And thus far, at least one former government contractor has been charged with leaking classified information to a news outlet since Trump took office. 
 
 Meanwhile, despite the President's repeated public dressing-down of his attorney general, sources tell CNN Sessions has no plans to resign. 
 
 Over the weekend, after the President's interview with The New York Times, White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and Sessions' chief of staff Jody Hunt spoke about their bosses' standoff. 
 
 Hunt told Priebus that Sessions has no intention to resign, the source said, and Priebus did not signal that Trump plans to fire him if Sessions does not resign, according to a source familiar with the conversations. 
 
 Another source close to Sessions tells CNN the only way Sessions would resign is if it was best for the country and he doesn't see why stepping aside now would serve that purpose. Sessions simply wants to do his job and move forward, according to this source, and if the President wants to fire him then the onus would be on him to explain why. 
 
 Such a move could potentially alienate some of the conservatives who got on board with Trump because of Sessions' early endorsement. 
 
 "I don't think the President realizes it's more important for Sessions to do what he believes is right than what (Trump) believes is in his best interest," the source said. "(Sessions) will withstand a lot of negative comments and jabs by the President if he thinks he can do a good job of upholding law and serving people of the United States."
– Jeff Sessions is out as attorney general, report CNN and the AP. White House chief of staff John Kelly reportedly asked him to resign Wednesday, and Sessions' resignation letter was subsequently delivered to the White House. The speed of the move, coming so soon after polls closed, "suggested how eager Mr. Trump was for Mr. Sessions to depart," observes the Wall Street Journal. "At your request, I am submitting my resignation," Sessions wrote in a letter addressed to the president, which you can read here. "Since the day I was honored to be sworn in as Attorney General of the United States, I came to work at the Department of Justice every day determined to do my duty and serve my country. I have done so to the best of my ability, working to support the fundamental legal processes that are the foundation of justice." More: