Matthew Whitaker, a Mueller Critic, Named Acting Attorney General

Donald Trump announced on Twitter Wednesday that Matthew G. Whitaker, a prominent critic of special counsel Robert Mueller, will become the new acting attorney general after Jeff Sessions submitted his resignation at the president’s request. “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,” Trump wrote. “He will serve our Country well....” In an undated letter to Trump, Sessions wrote that he was submitting his resignation “at [Trump’s] request.” The Justice Department indicated Wednesday that Whitaker will now oversee the Russia probe instead of Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, who still remains in place. In a 2017 CNN op-ed, Whitaker wrote that he thought Mueller’s investigation was going too far. “Mueller has come up to a red line in the Russia 2016 election-meddling investigation that he is dangerously close to crossing,” he wrote, adding that if the special counsel doesn’t back off, the probe would “eventually start to look like a political fishing expedition.” In a statement Wednesday evening, Whitaker said he is “committed to leading a fair Department with the highest ethical standards, that upholds the rule of law, and seeks justice for all Americans.”