Sessions going to El Salvador to talk about MS-13 gang

by Julia Manchester - 07/27/17 10:40 AM ET

Attorney General Jeff Sessions left Washington on Thursday amid escalated tensions with President Trump to fly to El Salvador. There, he will explore ways to quash the violent street gang known as MS-13, the Justice Department announced.

Halting MS-13 violence is one of the president’s priorities. The administration is providing full coverage of the El Salvador trip to Fox News. The network is sending a crew to follow Sessions on the trip.

Sessions will meet with El Salvadorian authorities, including Attorney General Douglas Meléndez, and meet with former members of the MS-13, which Sessions has said could be designated as a terror organization.

{mosads}

The El Salvadorian gang, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, is infamous for its brutality and gang loyalty and has a large presence in the U.S.

Sessions’s visit coincides with the Trump administration’s law and order agenda, however the president has continued to ratchet up his criticism of Sessions in recent days. Trump’s criticism of his own attorney general is unusual because Trump appointed him.

The president has taken several shots at Sessions recently for his decision to recuse himself from the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the election.

Trump told The New York Times in an interview last week that he would not have hired Sessions if he knew he would recuse himself from the Russia probe.

Trump then questioned on Wednesday why Sessions did not fire acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe over his ties to the Clinton family.

Why didn’t A.G. Sessions replace Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, a Comey friend who was in charge of Clinton investigation but got….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

…big dollars ($700,000) for his wife’s political run from Hillary Clinton and her representatives. Drain the Swamp!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017