Sessions Offered to Quit Amid Rift With Trump on Russian Federation

Attorney General Jeff Sessions allegedly proposed his possible resignation to President Donald Trump in a recent meeting amid an increasingly fraught working relationship, ABC News reported Tuesday, citing anonymous sources close to the president. He later added, after being pressed again on the matter: "I said I have not had a discussion with him on the question".

The frustration comes at a critical juncture for Trump.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer declined to say if Trump had confidence in Sessions, Alabama's former junior senator and the first sitting senator to endorse Trump, during Tuesday's White House briefing.

"I have not had that discussion with him", Spicer said. According to an unconfirmed report, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has threatened to quit his job amid rising tensions between him and the president. The official said they wanted to avoid a repeat of what happened when Kellyanne Conway said Trump had confidence in Flynn only to find out hours later that the national security adviser had been pushed out.

Sarah Isgur Flores, a Justice Department spokesperson, declined to comment on the ABC story when emailed by Business Insider. He privately blames Sessions' recusal for the expansion of the Russian Federation investigation and the naming of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special prosecutor.

President Trump apparently believes that Sessions' recusal set the stage for Special Counsel Robert Mueller to ultimately take over the criminal probe.

ABC's sources said Trump "has remained fixated on it", and two sources said Trump has "lashed out repeatedly" at Sessions privately, pointing at his decision to recuse himself as the reason for the escalation in the Russian Federation investigation.

Sessions was Trump's first supporter in the Senate and was an enthusiastic backer throughout the campaign - standing with Trump through multiple controversies.

After the election, Sessions was rewarded with one of the most prominent positions in Trump's new administration, atop the Justice Department.

That's according to an ABC News report, which has been independently confirmed by the New York Times.