'DISGRACEFUL': Trump lashes out at Sessions for using 'Obama guy' to investigate alleged spying abuses

Reuters/Joshua Roberts

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has caught the president's ire for months.

• President Donald Trump on Wednesday slammed Attorney General Jeff Sessions for tapping an Obama-era inspector general to investigate FISA abuse claims.
• Trump asked why Sessions wasn't using Justice Department lawyers instead.
• Sessions announced Tuesday that he believed it was "the appropriate thing" for the inspector general to take on the investigation.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday lashed out once again at his Attorney General Jeff Sessions, enraged that Sessions asked the Justice Department's Obama-era internal watchdog to investigate allegations of surveillance abuse rather than using the department's own lawyers.

"Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse," he tweeted, referring to surveillance warrants granted by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. "Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn't the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!"

Sessions announced Tuesday that the Justice Department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, is investigating House Republicans' claims that the FBI abused its authority in seeking a surveillance warrant for a former Trump campaign adviser.

President Barack Obama appointed Horowitz in 2012, and the Senate approved the pick. Trump hasn't nominated anyone for inspector general, so Horowitz has stayed on the job.

An infamous memo by House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes outlined accused US intelligence agencies of FISA abuses. House Democrats released their own memo countering Nunes' claims on Saturday, arguing that the Justice Department and FBI provided ample evidence to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that justified seeking the FISA warrant.

"We believe the Department of Justice must adhere to the highest standards in the FISA court, and yes, it will be investigated, and I think that's just the appropriate thing," Sessions said at a news conference Tuesday, adding that the inspector general would lead the investigation.

Trump's tweet on Wednesday was far from the first time he publicly attacked his own attorney general. Trump went on a days-long Twitter rant last week, demanding to know why Sessions wasn't investigating Obama in connection to the investigation into Russia's election interference.

Trump has also publicly berated Sessions for months over his decision to recuse himself from all matters related to the Russia probe and the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has previously said he wouldn't have nominated Sessions for the Attorney General post had he known Sessions would recuse himself.