The acting attorney general, a vocal critic of the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling, was associated with a shadowy company fined nearly $26 million.
President Trump ousted his attorney general and put Mr. Whitaker, a partisan defender who insisted there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, in charge of the Justice Department.
Matthew Whitaker now oversees the Russia investigation, has visited the Oval Office several times and is said to have an easy chemistry with the president.
The company, World Patent Marketing, used Matthew G. Whitaker’s position as a former federal prosecutor to threaten consumers who tried to get their money back, court documents show.
The newly installed head of the Justice Department, Matthew G. Whitaker, espoused views that a constitutional scholar called “internally contradictory” and “ignorant.”
Mr. Sessions was the first senator to endorse Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign. But his recusal as attorney general from the Russia inquiry proved to be his undoing.
Mr. Sessions was the first senator to endorse Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign. But his recusal as attorney general from the Russia inquiry proved to be his undoing.
Despite warnings from within the GOP, Republicans lost their unity and grip on messaging, allowing the Democrats to gain a majority of congressional seats.