President Donald Trump is on the verge of giving the nation’s leading law enforcement hammer, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, his walking papers, according to a recent report from CBS News.

It seems that Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation has made President Trump fighting mad, so much that, aside from posting a series of angry tweets about the situation, one of which refers to the attorney general as “beleaguered,” the president has allegedly gathered his team of advisers to discuss tossing Sessions into the unemployment line. 

 

But as reports have shown, Trump does not exactly hold true to his word when he talks about making drastic changes to his staff. In fact, sources close to the White House say that it may still be too early to tell whether the Sessions firing is a sure thing. But there is no mistaking that the president is severely rattled over Sessions’ decision to distance himself from all the probing surrounding the meetings with Russia. 

 

 

Just last week, Sessions told the New York Times that he has no plans to resign from his post as the head of the Justice Department. But, according to an analysis by CNN Editor-at-Large Chris Cillizza, that is exactly what Trump wants him to do.

“Trump wants Sessions gone. But he doesn't want to swing the proverbial sword. He wants to make Sessions' life so uncomfortable that Sessions throws up his hands and walks away,” Cillizza wrote.

The idea that Sessions is at the end of his rope could be a salvation’s wing for the legal cannabis community.

For the past several months, the attorney general has appeared to be building a case against legal marijuana. Not only has Sessions renewed efforts to increase mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders and ramp up the civil asset forfeiture program, he is also trying to persuade Congressional leaders to back down on their support for temporary medical marijuana protections known as the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment.

“I believe it would be unwise for Congress to restrict the discretion of the Department to fund particular prosecutions, particularly in the midst of an historic drug epidemic and potentially long-term uptick in violent crime,” Sessions wrote in a letter to Congress.

To make matters worse, Sessions ordered a federal marijuana review back in April in an attempt to uncover any possible connection between the legal cannabis trade and an increase in violent crime. That report, as MERRY JANE touched on yesterday, is to be delivered to Sessions’ desk by no later than this Thursday, July 27.

There is speculation that the review could contain enough anecdotal evidence to help Sessions support an argument in favor of a federal marijuana crackdown. However, the attorney general would need Congress to adhere to his request to eliminate the medical marijuana rider from the next federal budget before for his master plan to dissolve statewide marijuana legalization could have maximum impact.

If Sessions quits or is fired, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would take over until a more permanent figure could be put into place. Reports indicate that possible replacements include former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz. However, both men claim that Trump has not yet been approached them about potentially taking over at the Department of Justice.