Here’s what President Donald Trump had to say when, on May 17, 2017, special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to undertake his special investigation into the president’s possible misbehavior: “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I’m fucked.” Those were the president’s first remarks to then–Attorney General Jeff Sessions when Sessions informed Trump of Acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s decision to appoint Mueller, according to notes written by Jody Hunt, then Sessions’ chief of staff. The quote is included in the special counsel’s report, released on Thursday:
According to notes written by Hunt , when Sessions told the President that a Special Counsel had been appointed, the President slumped back in his chair and said, “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I’m fucked .” The President became angry and lambasted the Attorney General for his decision to recuse from the investigation , stating, “How could you let this happen, Jeff?” The President said the position of Attorney General was his most important appointment and that Sessions had ” let [him] down ,” contrasting him to Eric Holder and Robert Kennedy. Sessions recalled that the President said to him, “you were supposed to protect me,” or words to that effect. The President returned to the consequences of the appointment and said, “Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels it ruins your presidency . It takes years and years and I won ‘t be able to do anything. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me.”
Immediately afterward, at the president’s request, Sessions left to draft a letter of resignation. (He did not resign until November 2018.)
