Trump fires Attorney General

"At your request, I am submitting my resignation," US Attorney General Jeff Sessions wrote in a letter to Trump on November 7, according toAFP.

Sessions was the first senator to endorse Trump during the 2016 campaign but has since become a target of criticism from the president. Trump has accused Sessions of not taking a tough enough approach to illegal immigration and has said he defended special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations, and Russia has denied meddling in the US election.

Matthew Whitaker, Sessions' chief of staff, will be acting attorney general. The personnel change has raised concerns among Democrats, who recently took control of the House of Representatives after the midterm elections, that Trump wants to block the Mueller investigation.

Sessions recused himself from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election in March 2017 because of his role in Trump's 2016 campaign. Sessions gave Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein the authority to oversee the independent investigation.

Mueller's replacement would not be subject to such restrictions and could help Trump rein in the investigation. Before becoming Sessions's undersecretary in September 2017, Whitaker was a legal commentator for CNN and once said Mueller's investigation had become a "witch hunt."

"President Trump just fired Jeff Sessions. He wants an attorney general who serves his interests, not the public," Rep. Adam Schiff tweeted. "The Mueller investigation and the independence of the Department of Justice must be protected. Whitaker or any nominee must commit to doing so."

"Anyone who attempts to interfere with or obstruct Mueller's investigation must be held accountable. We are a nation of laws and regulations, not subject to actions that serve one's own interests," former Attorney General Eric Holder wrote.

Robert Mueller is reportedly preparing new indictments against several people in the Trump campaign, possibly including President Donald Trump Jr.'s son and former campaign adviser Roger Stone.

On November 7, Trump denied that he would fire Mueller's team, but still called the investigation an illegal "witch hunt" that had cost millions of dollars. "I could fire anybody, but I don't want to stop the investigation because politically, I don't like to do that," Trump said at a press conference at the White House.