President Donald Trump announced Attorney General Jeff Sessions is leaving his administration just moments after holding a press conference with reporters at the White House Wednesday afternoon.
“We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Sessions submitted his resignation to the president which he accepted. Trump said that Matthew G. Whitaker, the Chief of Staff for Sessions, would serve as Acting Attorney General in his place.
“A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date,” he said.
A copy of Sessions’ resignation letter said the move was “at your [Trump’s] request.”
Sessions wrote in his resignation letter to Trump that he was submitting it “at your request.”
“I have been honored to serve as Attorney General and have worked to implement the law enforcement agenda based on the rule of law that formed a central part of your campaign for the presidency,” he wrote.
Trump declined to answer questions about Sessions during his press conference earlier Wednesday afternoon.
Sessions was long rumored to leave the administration as attorney general after the midterm elections and the president moved quickly to replace him.
A Department of Justice spokesperson confirmed to Breitbart News that Whitaker would reassert control of the Mueller Russia investigation, which was under the purvue of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after Sessions recused himself in March 2017.
That decision angered Trump, remaining a festering frustration for the president, especially since Sessions did not inform him prior to the announcement.