But it’s hard to conceive of an attorney general more aligned with Trump’s agenda and capable of accomplishing it than Sessions, a former US attorney and senator.

As head of the Justice Department, Sessions cranked through conservative achievements on immigration, drugs, crime, and civil rights reversals that fueled Trump’s base, offering stability to the administration and sending Democrats into hysterics.

While the White House was on defense over Russia, Sessions was a bedrock amid the storm — all the more effective because he was unencumbered by the Mueller investigation. A Southern gentleman who could counterbalance Trump’s bombast, he was deferential to the president and never humiliated the White House with a scandal over ordering furniture that costs more than a steelworker’s salary.