Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday that he did not plan to step down after a public rebuke by President Trump, saying he continued to carry out the president’s directives as the country’s top law enforcement officer.
“I’m completely confident that we can continue to run the office in an effective way,” Mr. Sessions told reporters at the Justice Department.
He said serving as attorney general was an honor and more than he would ever imagined for himself.
“We love this job. We love this department. And I plan to continue to do so as long as is appropriate,” the attorney general said.
Mr. Sessions’ ability to remain at the helm of the Justice Department was thrown into question when Mr. Trump said Wednesday that he regretted nominating him for the job.
In an interview with The New York Times, the president said that Mr. Sessions’ decision in March to recuse himself from the Russia investigation led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, a development that Mr. Trump said shouldn’t have happened.
“Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and I would have picked somebody else,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Sessions said he remained committed to the department’s crime-fighting mission.
“We in this Department of Justice will continue every single day to work hard to serve in the national interest and we wholeheartedly join in the priorities of President Trump. He gave us several directives,” he said. “One is to dismantle internet transnational criminal organizations, and that is what we are announcing today.”
Mr. Sessions appeared before reporters at a press conference to announce the takedown of AlphaBay, one of the largest dark web outlets for illegal drugs, firearms, stolen goods and fraudulent documents sold throughout the world.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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