President Trump on Friday praised embattled EPA chief Scott Pruitt, denied that he was thinking about naming him attorney general to replace Jeff Sessions —…
President Trump on Friday praised embattled EPA chief Scott Pruitt, denied that he was thinking about naming him attorney general to replace Jeff Sessions — and blamed the “Fake News Media” for Pruitt’s mounting ethical woes.
“Do you believe that the Fake News Media is pushing hard on a story that I am going to replace A. G. Jeff Sessions with EPA Chief Scott Pruitt, who is doing a great job but is TOTALLY under siege?” Trump tweeted at 10:46 a.m. “Do people really believe this stuff? So much of the media is dishonest and corrupt!”
CNN reported Thursday that Trump considered replacing Sessions with Pruitt as recently as this week.
“He was 100 percent still trying to protect Pruitt because Pruitt is his fill-in for Sessions,” a source told CNN.
The possible move revealed that Trump remained angry with Sessions over his decision to recuse himself from the feds’ probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion, and has attacked special counsel Robert Mueller and his team on Twitter.
Pruitt — a pro-business conservative who has rolled back a number of environmental regulations since taking office — is embroiled in controversies over his lavish spending, sweetheart condo rental deal and a rash of defections by top staffers, among others.
