Video: 'Protect Mueller' Protest Outside White House After Sessions Exit

Protesters gathered outside the White House on Wednesday night to demonstrate against the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, which Sessions submitted at President Donald Trump's request.

Trump announced Sessions's resignation on Twitter a day after Tuesday's midterm elections, with the U.S. leader revealing that Sessions's chief of staff, Matthew G. Whitaker, would be stepping in temporarily as acting attorney general.

Hours after Sessions resigned, protesters were seen outside the White House holding up neon letters spelling out the words "Protect Mueller."

Democratic lawmakers have expressed fears that Sessions's departure from the Department of Justice could spell trouble for special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, given that Whitaker, who will now be overseeing the investigation, has been a fierce critic of the inquiry.

In an op-ed for CNN published on November 7, 2017, Whitaker accused Mueller of going "too far" in the investigation and called on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to "limit the scope" of the probe, which he said would "eventually start to look like a political fishing expedition."

Since Sessions had recused himself from overseeing any inquiry into alleged Russian interference, Rosenstein had been tasked with oversight of the probe. But with Whitaker taking over Sessions's role, the new acting attorney general would resume the task of supervising Mueller's investigation.

On Wednesday, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged Whitaker to recuse himself from oversight of the Russia probe, arguing that his "previous comments advocating defunding and imposing limitations on the Mueller investigation" should disqualify him from providing oversight.

Wednesday's protests appear to have been organized as part of the Kremlin Annex, an ongoing 17-week long protest that began on July 16, the day Trump returned from his controversial Helsinki summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

More demonstrations are expected on Thursday, with activist group MoveOn expecting hundreds of protests organized under the banner "Nobody Is Above the Law" to take place across the country, as well as in several Canadian cities.

"Donald Trump just crossed a red line, violating the independence of the investigation pursuing criminal charges in the Trump-Russia scandal and cover-up," organizers said in a statement calling on demonstrators to join Thursday's protest.

"Trump putting himself above the law is a threat to our democracy, and we've got to get Congress to stop him," the group said. "We're mobilizing immediately to demand accountability, because Trump is not above the law."

MoveOn said protesters across the country would be out in full force on Thursday to demand that Whitaker "immediately commit not to assume supervision of the [Mueller] investigation. Whitaker has publicly outlined strategies to stifle the investigation and cannot be allowed to remain in charge of it," the group said.