Jeff Sessions
Jeff Sessions | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2017 | |
| 84th United States Attorney General | |
| In office February 9, 2017 – November 7, 2018 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Deputy |
|
| Preceded by | Loretta Lynch |
| Succeeded by | William Barr |
| United States Senator from Alabama | |
| In office January 3, 1997 – February 8, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Howell Heflin |
| Succeeded by | Luther Strange |
| 44th Attorney General of Alabama | |
| In office January 16, 1995 – January 3, 1997 | |
| Governor | Fob James |
| Preceded by | Jimmy Evans |
| Succeeded by | William H. Pryor Jr. |
| United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama | |
| In office February 1981 – March 23, 1993 | |
| President | |
| Preceded by | William Kimbrough |
| Succeeded by | Don Foster |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III December 24, 1946 Selma, Alabama, U.S. |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Mary Blackshear (m. 1969) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | |
Years of service | 1973–1977 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | 1184th United States Army Transportation Terminal Unit |
Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States attorney general from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United States senator from Alabama from 1997 to 2017 before resigning that position to serve as attorney general in the first administration of President Donald Trump. Trump fired Sessions in 2018 due to his inaction and recusal from the Russian collusion probes.
From 1981 to 1993, Sessions served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan nominated Sessions to a judgeship on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. After allegations of racism were made against him in testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, which Sessions denied, the committee voted against advancing his nomination to the Senate floor; the nomination was later withdrawn. Sessions was elected attorney general of Alabama in 1994. In 1996, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, and was re-elected in 2002, 2008 and 2014. During his Senate tenure, Sessions was considered one of the most conservative senators. His Senate voting record includes votes against comprehensive immigration reform (2006), the 2008 bank bailout, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Affordable Care Act (2009) and criminal justice reform (2015).
Sessions was an early supporter of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign; he was nominated by Trump for the post of U.S. Attorney General. He was confirmed and sworn in as attorney general in February 2017. In his confirmation hearings, Sessions stated under oath that he did not have contact with Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign and that he was unaware of any contact between Trump campaign members and Russian officials. However, in March 2017, news reports revealed that Sessions had twice met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in 2016. Sessions later recused himself from any investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. As attorney general, Sessions rescinded a memo issued by one of his predecessors, Eric Holder, that had sought to curb mass incarceration by avoiding mandatory sentencing for drug crimes; he ordered federal prosecutors to begin seeking the maximum criminal charges possible. A staunch opponent of illegal immigration, Sessions adopted a hard line on sanctuary cities and told reporters that cities failing to comply with federal immigration policy would lose federal funding. He also played a key role in the implementation of the Trump administration family separation policy. Trump issued an executive order revoking the cities' funding, but that order was overturned by a federal court. Sessions also supported Department of Justice prosecutions of medical marijuana providers.
On November 7, 2018, Sessions tendered his resignation at Trump's request following months of public and private conflict with President Trump over his recusal from investigations relating to Russian election interference. Sessions ran in the 2020 Senate election in Alabama to reclaim his old seat but lost in the Republican primary to Tommy Tuberville, who was supported by President Trump.
Early life and early career
[edit]Sessions was born in Selma, Alabama, on December 24, 1946,[1] the son of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions Jr. and the former Abbie Powe.[2] Sessions, his father, and his grandfather were named after Jefferson Davis, a U.S. senator and president of the Confederate States of America,[3] and P. G. T. Beauregard, a veteran of the Mexican–American War and a Confederate general who oversaw the Battle of Fort Sumter that commenced the American Civil War.[4] His father owned a general store in Hybart, Alabama, and later owned a farm equipment dealership.[5] In 1964, Sessions became an Eagle Scout, and later, he earned the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award for his many years of service.[6]
After attending Wilcox County High School in nearby Camden,[7] Sessions studied at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1969. He was active in the Young Republicans, the marching band and was student body president.[8] Sessions attended the University of Alabama School of Law and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1973.[9]
Sessions entered the private practice of law in Russellville and later in Mobile.[10][11] He also served in the Army Reserve in the 1970s with the rank of captain.[10]
U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama (1981–1993)
[edit]Sessions served as an assistant United States attorney in the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama beginning in 1975. In 1981, President Reagan nominated him to be the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. The Senate confirmed him and he held that position for twelve years. In 1993, Sessions resigned his post after Democrat Bill Clinton was elected President of the United States.[12]
Sessions's office filed civil rights charges in the 1981 killing of Michael Donald, a young African American man who was murdered in Mobile, Alabama, by a pair of Ku Klux Klan members.[13][14] Sessions's office did not prosecute the case, as homicide is prosecuted by the state government, but both men were arrested and convicted.[15]
In 1985, Sessions prosecuted three African American community organizers in the Black Belt of Alabama, including Martin Luther King Jr.'s former aide Albert Turner, for voter fraud, alleging tampering with 14 absentee ballots. The prosecution stirred charges of selective prosecution of black voter registration. The defendants, known as the Marion Three, were acquitted of all charges by a jury after three hours of deliberation. Historian Wayne Flynt told The Washington Post he regarded concerns about tactics employed in the 1984 election and by Turner in particular as legitimate, but also noted Sessions had no history of advocating for black voter rights before 1984.[16][17] Interviewed in 2009, Sessions said he remained convinced that he did the right thing, but admitted he "failed to make the case".[18]
Failed nomination for federal trial court judgeship (1986)
[edit]In 1986, Reagan nominated Sessions to be a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.[19] Sessions's judicial nomination was recommended and actively backed by Republican Alabama senator Jeremiah Denton.[20] A substantial majority of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which rates nominees to the federal bench, rated Sessions "qualified", with a minority voting that Sessions was "not qualified".[21] His nomination was opposed by the NAACP, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and People for the American Way.[17]
At Sessions's confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, four Department of Justice lawyers who had worked with Sessions testified that he made racially offensive remarks. One of those lawyers, J. Gerald Hebert, testified that Sessions had referred to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as "un-American" and "Communist-inspired" (Sessions said he was referring to their support of the Sandinistas[22]) and that they did more harm than good by trying to force civil rights "down the throats of people".[23] Hebert, a civil rights lawyer,[24] said that he did not consider Sessions a racist, and that Sessions "has a tendency sometimes to just say something, and I believe these comments were along that vein."[25] Hebert also said that Sessions had called a white civil rights attorney "maybe" a "disgrace to his race". Sessions said he did not recall making that remark and he did not believe it.[22]
Thomas Figures, a black assistant U.S. attorney, testified that Sessions said he thought the Ku Klux Klan was "OK until I found out they smoked pot". Sessions later said that the comment was not serious, but did apologize for it, saying that he considered the Klan to be "a force for hatred and bigotry".[26] Barry Kowalski, a prosecutor in the civil rights division, also heard the remark and testified that prosecutors working such a gruesome case sometimes "resort to operating room humor and that is what I considered it to be". Another DOJ lawyer, Albert Glenn, said, "It never occurred to me that there was any seriousness to it."[27][22][25][26] Figures testified that on one occasion, when the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division sent the office instructions to investigate a case that Sessions had tried to close, Figures and Sessions "had a very spirited discussion regarding how the Hodge case should then be handled; in the course of that argument, Mr. Sessions threw the file on a table, and remarked, 'I wish I could decline on all of them'", by which Figures said Sessions meant civil rights cases generally. Kowalski, however, testified that he believed "[Sessions] was eager to see that justice was done in the area of criminal civil rights prosecutions."[27]
Figures also said that Sessions had called him "boy", which Sessions denied. Figures testified that two assistant prosecutors had also heard Sessions, including current federal judge Ginny Granade. Granade denied this.[19][28] He also testified that "Mr. Sessions admonished me to 'be careful what you say to white folks.'" Sessions denied this.[29] In 1992, Figures was charged with attempting to bribe a witness by offering $50,000 to a convicted drug dealer who was to testify against his client. Figures claimed the charge was retaliation for his role in blocking the Sessions nomination. Sessions denied this, saying that he recused himself from the case. Figures was ultimately acquitted.[30][31][32]
Hebert, Kowalski and Daniel Bell, deputy chief of the criminal section in the Civil Rights Division, testified that they considered Sessions to have been more welcoming to the work of the Civil Rights Division than many other Southern U.S. attorneys at the time.[22][25] Sessions has always defended his civil rights record, saying that "when I was [a U.S. attorney], I signed 10 pleadings attacking segregation or the remnants of segregation, where we as part of the Department of Justice, we sought desegregation remedies."[33] Critics later argued that Sessions had exaggerated his involvement in civil rights cases. Michigan Law professor Samuel Bagenstos, reviewing Sessions's claims, argued that "[a]ll this shows is that Sessions didn't completely refuse to participate in or have his name on pleadings in cases that the civil rights division brought during his tenure ... These four cases are awfully weak evidence of Sessions's supposed commitment to civil rights."[34]
Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr. wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee to oppose the nomination. In her letter, she wrote that "Mr. Sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters."[35]
On June 5, 1986, the committee voted 10–8 against recommending the nomination to the Senate floor, with Republican senators Charles Mathias of Maryland and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania voting with the Democrats. It then split 9–9 on a vote to send Sessions's nomination to the Senate floor with no recommendation, this time with Specter in support. A majority was required for the nomination to proceed.[36] The pivotal votes against Sessions came from his home state's Democratic senator Howell Heflin of Alabama. Although Heflin had previously backed Sessions, he began to oppose Sessions after hearing testimony, concluding that there were "reasonable doubts" over Sessions's ability to be "fair and impartial". The nomination was withdrawn on July 31, 1986.[21]
Sessions became only the second nominee to the federal judiciary in 48 years whose nomination was killed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.[26] He was quoted then as saying that the Senate on occasion had been insensitive to the rights and reputation of nominees.[37] A law clerk from the U.S. District Court in Mobile who had worked with Sessions later acknowledged the confirmation controversy, but stated that he observed Sessions as "a lawyer of the highest ethical and intellectual standards".[38]
When Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania left the GOP to join the Democratic Party on April 28, 2009, Sessions was selected to be the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee. At that time, Specter said that his vote against Sessions's 1986 federal judicial nomination had been a mistake, adding that he had later found Sen. Sessions to be an "egalitarian".[39]
Alabama attorney general (1995–1997)
[edit]
Sessions was elected attorney general of Alabama in November 1994, unseating incumbent Democrat Jimmy Evans with 57% of the vote. The harsh criticism he had received from Senator Ted Kennedy, who called him a "throw-back to a shameful era" and a "disgrace", was considered to have won him the support of Alabama conservatives.
As attorney general, Sessions defended the state in a litigation that challenged the funding system for Alabama's public schools. The litigation resulted in the creation of a new funding system after "Judge Eugene W. Reese found the state's education funding unconstitutional and ordered lawmakers to come up with a system to remedy inequities between rich and poor schools."[40][41][42]
As attorney general in 1995, Sessions defended a newly passed state law denying access to meeting space and student group funding for Gay-Straight Alliances at the state's public universities, stating that "an organization that professes to be comprised of homosexuals and/or lesbians may not receive state funding or use state-supported facilities to foster or promote those illegal, sexually deviant activities defined in the sodomy and sexual misconduct laws."[43] The U.S. District court ruled against the state law as a violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in Gay Lesbian Bisexual Alliance v. Sessions, 917 F. Supp. 1548 (1996).[44]
U.S. Senate (1997–2017)
[edit]
In 1996, Sessions won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, after a runoff, and then defeated Democrat Roger Bedford 53%–46% in the November general election.[8] He succeeded Democrat Howell Heflin, who had retired after 18 years in the Senate, making his victory a Republican pickup in the Senate.
In the February 1999 impeachment trial, Sessions voted to convict President Bill Clinton on both articles of impeachment, for perjury and obstruction of justice. However Clinton was acquitted on both charges by the Senate.
Following the Columbine High School massacre in April 1999, Sessions took part in the Senate's Subcommittee that investigated the massacre. Sessions blamed violent video games, movies and music, especially that of Marilyn Manson, and parts of culture for the actions of the two shooters.[45]
In 2002, Sessions won reelection by defeating Democratic state auditor Susan Parker. In 2008, Sessions defeated Democratic state senator Vivian Davis Figures (sister-in-law of Thomas Figures, the assistant U.S. attorney who testified at Sessions's judicial confirmation hearing) to win a third term. Sessions received 63% of the vote to Figures's 37%. Sessions successfully sought a fourth term in 2014.[46] In 2014, Sessions was uncontested in the Republican primary and was only opposed in the general election by write-in Democratic candidate Victor Sanchez Williams.[47][48][49][50]
Sessions was only the second freshman Republican senator from Alabama since Reconstruction and gave Alabama two Republican senators, a first since Reconstruction. In 2002, he became the first Republican reelected to the Senate from Alabama since Reconstruction (given that his colleague Richard Shelby, who won reelection as a Republican in 1998, had previously run as a Democrat, switching parties in 1994).[49]
Sessions was the ranking Republican member on the Senate Budget Committee,[51] a former ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a senior member of the Armed Services Committee. He also served on the Environment and Public Works Committee.
Campaign donors
[edit]According to OpenSecrets, between 1995 and 2016, Sessions's largest donors came from the legal, health, real estate, and insurance industries.[52] From 1995 to 2016, the corporations employing donors who gave the most to his campaign were the Southern Company utility firm, the Balch & Bingham law firm, the Drummond Company coal mining firm, Collazo Enterprises, and Vulcan Materials.[53]
Committee assignments
[edit]2016 presidential election
[edit]
Sessions was an early supporter of the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump, and was a major policy adviser to the Trump campaign, especially in regard to immigration and national security.[55] He was on the short list to become Trump's running mate and was widely seen as a potential Cabinet secretary in a Trump administration.[55]
Sessions donned a "Make America Great Again" cap at a Trump rally in August 2015, and Stephen Miller, Sessions's long-time communications director, joined the Trump campaign.[56] On February 28, 2016, Sessions officially endorsed Trump for president. Sessions' endorsement further legitimized Trump's campaign, as he was the first and only sitting U.S. Senator to endorse him during the primary. Sessions' and Rudy Giuliani's appearance was a staple at Trump campaign rallies.[57] Uncorroborated Russian communications intercepted by U.S. intelligence agencies discuss Ambassador Sergey Kislyak meeting privately with Sessions at the Mayflower Hotel during a Trump campaign event in April 2016.[58]
Transition
[edit]
During the transition, Sessions played a large role in appointments and policy preparation relative to space, NASA and related facilities in Alabama,[59] while Peter Thiel advocated for private spaceflight.[60]
Attorney General of the United States (2017–2018)
[edit]Nomination and confirmation
[edit]President-elect Trump announced on November 18, 2016, that he would nominate Sessions to be Attorney General of the United States.[61] Trump would later state in an August 22, 2018, interview with Fox News' Ainsley Earhardt that the only reason he nominated Sessions was because Sessions was an original supporter during his presidential campaign.[62] The nomination engendered support and opposition from various groups and individuals. He was introduced by Senator Susan Collins from Maine who said, "He's a decent individual with a strong commitment to the rule of law. He's a leader of integrity. I think the attacks against him are not well founded and are unfair."[63] More than 1,400 law school professors wrote a letter urging the Senate to reject the nomination.[64][65] A group of black pastors rallied in support of Sessions in advance of his confirmation hearing;[66] his nomination was supported by Gerald A. Reynolds, an African American former chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights.[65] Six NAACP activists, including NAACP President Cornell William Brooks, were arrested at a January 2017 sit-in protesting the nomination.[67][68]
On January 10, 2017, the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on his nomination began[69] and were interrupted by protesters.[70][71] The committee approved his nomination February 1 on an 11–9 party-line vote.[72] The nomination then went to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.[73] The vote on Sessions was delayed until after the vote on Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos, because his confirmation – and subsequent resignation from the Senate – would create a temporary vacancy, which otherwise would have jeopardized DeVos's narrow confirmation.[74] On February 7, 2017, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell stopped Senator Elizabeth Warren from reading statements opposing Sessions's nomination as federal judge that had been made by Ted Kennedy and Coretta Scott King. Warren was then officially rebuked per Senate Rule XIX on a party-line vote for "impugning a fellow senator's character".[75] In silencing Warren, McConnell uttered the phrase "Nevertheless, she persisted"; the phrase was later adopted by the feminist movement in referring to women's persistence in breaking barriers.[76] A few hours later Senator Jeff Merkley read without interruption the same letter by King that Warren had attempted to read.[77][78]
On February 8, 2017, Sessions was confirmed as attorney general by a vote of 52 to 47.[79][80] The next day, he was sworn in into his new post.
Tenure
[edit]
On March 10, 2017, Sessions oversaw the firing of 46 United States attorneys. His acting deputy, Dana Boente, and Deputy Attorney General nominee Rod Rosenstein remained in place after Trump declined their resignations.[81]
On April 10, 2017, Sessions disbanded the National Commission on Forensic Science and ended the department's review of forensic accuracy in closed cases.[82]
Sessions imposed a hiring freeze on most of the United States Department of Justice Criminal Division and U.S. attorneys' offices, and placed a total hiring freeze on the Department's Fraud Section.[83] On April 24, 2017, Sessions traveled to an ethics lawyers' conference to assure them the department would continue prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, regardless of Trump's comments that the law is a "horrible law" and that "the world is laughing at us".[83]
On May 9, 2017, Sessions delivered a memo to the president recommending that Trump fire FBI director James Comey, attaching a memo by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein which called the Director's behavior indefensible. Trump fired Comey that day.[84] In March 2017, Sessions had recused himself from investigations into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. Comey was leading the investigations prior to his dismissal.[85][86]
On June 5, 2017, Sessions issued a memo prohibiting the DOJ from directing or requiring settlement payments to non-governmental third parties that were "neither victims nor parties to the lawsuits,"[87] thus ending the Obama administration's practices.[88] Sessions said that "[w]hen the federal government settles a case against a corporate wrongdoer, any settlement funds should go first to the victims and then to the American people – not to bankroll third-party special interest groups or the political friends of whoever is in power."[89] Such settlement funding had been made available for the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.[90] Over $2 billion of the Volkswagen emissions scandal settlement funds were diverted to California only, to build electric vehicle battery chargers despite the emissions impacting VW owners in all 50 states.[88] The Regulatory Transparency Project investigated how such payments were unconstitutional.[91]
In a November 2017 overview of his tenure in the Washington Post, Sessions was described as having made "dramatic and controversial changes [which] reflect his nationalist ideology and hard-line views".[92]
In a speech on 5 December 2017, Sessions described a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal involving a Malaysian state fund (1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal) as the worst form of kleptocracy, and said the DoJ was working to provide justice to the victims. He said: "This is kleptocracy at its worst."[93][94]
On December 21, 2017, Sessions rescinded 200 pages of guidance documents. Some of those 25 guidance documents had included warnings to avoid imposing excessive fees on the poor, to refrain from shipping some guns across state lines, and to encourage accommodation of the developmentally disabled.[95] Sessions's recessions were criticized by the United States Commission on Civil Rights and prompted a lawsuit by the City Attorney of San Francisco.[96][97] In 2018, Sessions shuttered the Justice Department's Office for Access to Justice, which had focused on making legal aid more accessible.[98]
On November 7, 2018, Sessions resigned at President Trump's behest. It has been reported that his letter of resignation had also been submitted on a prior occasion.[99][100]
Controversies about Russia
[edit]
During Sessions' Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on January 10, Senator Al Franken asked him what he would do as attorney general "if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign". Franken was referring to a news report alleging that Russia had compromising material on Trump, and that Trump surrogates were in contact with the Russian government. Sessions replied that he was "not aware of any of those activities" and said "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn't have – did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it."[101][102] A week later, in his responses to written questions presented by Senator Patrick Leahy, Sessions stated that he had not been "in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election".[103][104]
On March 1, 2017, reports surfaced that Sessions had contact with Russian government officials during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, even though during his confirmation hearings he denied he had any discussions with representatives of the Russian government.[105] News reports revealed that Sessions had spoken twice with Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak.[105][106] The first communication took place after a Heritage Foundation event at the 2016 Republican National Convention attended by several ambassadors, including Kislyak who spoke with Sessions. The second interaction took place on September 8, 2016, when they met in Sessions's office;[107] Sessions said they discussed Ukraine and terrorism.[108] Sessions released a statement on March 1, 2017, saying "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."[109][110][111] U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said: "There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer. He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign – not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee ... Last year, the Senator had over 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian, German and Russian ambassadors."[109][110][112]
Upon the revelation that Sessions had met twice with the Russian ambassador, Republican senator Lindsey Graham called for Sessions to recuse himself from any investigations into the connections between Russia and the Trump campaign.[113] Several Democratic members of Congress called on Sessions to resign his post as United States attorney general.[114][115] Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Elijah Cummings and Senator Al Franken accused Sessions of having lied under oath at his confirmation hearing.[116][117][118]
On March 20, 2017, FBI director James Comey testified in front of the House Intelligence Committee that since July 2016, the FBI had been conducting a counter-intelligence investigation to assess the extent of Russia's interference into the 2016 presidential election and whether Trump associates played a role in Russia's efforts.[119] In May 2017 the Justice Department reported that Sessions had failed to disclose meetings with Russian officials during the presidential campaign in 2016, when he applied for his security clearance. Sessions's staff had been advised by the FBI that meetings with foreign dignitaries and their staff connected with his Senate activities did not need to be disclosed.[120][121][122]
On June 13, 2017, Sessions testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee after canceling testimonies before the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.[123][124][125] Sessions rejected reports he had met with Russian Ambassador Kislyak during Trump's April 2016 speech at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., testifying that he did not remember any "brief interaction" he may have had with the ambassador.[126] Accused of "stonewalling" by Senator Ron Wyden, Sessions discussed the executive privilege power, and said that he was refusing to answer questions about his conversations with Trump because "I am protecting the President's right to assert it if he chooses."[127][128] He was being advised by his personal lawyer Charles J. Cooper.[129]
In July 2017, The Washington Post reported that Kislyak, in communications intercepted by U.S. intelligence, had told his superiors in Moscow that his conversations with Sessions had concerned Trump's campaign as well as "Trump's positions on Russia-related issues".[130] Previously, after initially denying having met with Kisylak at all, Sessions had repeatedly asserted that in his meetings with the Russian ambassador he never discussed the campaign and only met with him in his capacity as a U.S. senator.[130][131] The Department of Justice responded by saying that Sessions stood by his testimony that he "never met with or had any conversations with any Russians or any foreign officials concerning any type of interference with any campaign or election".[132]
In March 2016, one of Trump's foreign policy advisors named George Papadopoulos suggested that he could use personal connections to arrange a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, and Sessions rejected the proposed meeting, according to information provided to CNN by a person in attendance.[133] This raised questions on the truthfulness of Sessions's testimony and whether Sessions committed perjury during his testimony.[134][135] Furthermore, on the same day, testimony given by Carter Page to the House intelligence committee contradicted Sessions's previous statements by stating that he had told Sessions about plans to visit Russia during the campaign.[136][137]
Beginning in March 2017, senators asked the FBI to conduct a criminal perjury investigation into Sessions.[138] Deputy Director Andrew McCabe then assigned FBI agents to investigate.[139] According to Sessions's personal lawyer, the investigation concluded without charges being brought.[139]
On March 16, 2018, Sessions fired McCabe hours before the deputy director would have qualified for a government pension, citing McCabe's lack of candor to the department's inspector general.[140]
Recusal from election investigation, and relationship with President Trump
[edit]The idea that Sessions might have to recuse himself from the Russia investigation was raised almost as soon as he took office. Trump was concerned about the implications of such a recusal, reportedly telling aides that he needed a loyalist overseeing the investigation.[141] In early March he told White House counsel Don McGahn to urge Sessions to retain oversight of the investigation, but Sessions told McGahn he intended to follow the advice of Justice Department lawyers.[142]
On March 2, 2017, Sessions announced that he would recuse himself from any investigations into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, or any other matters related to the 2016 presidential election.[143] He had been advised to do so by career Justice Department personnel, citing concerns about impartiality given his prominent role in the Trump election campaign.[141] When told 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," then elaborating, “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.”[144] That same day, The Wall Street Journal reported that Sessions' contacts with Russians had been investigated, but it was not clear whether the investigation was ongoing.[145] Sessions said during a televised interview that the recusal was not an admission of any wrongdoing.[146] On June 8, 2017, James Comey, who had been dismissed as FBI director a month earlier, testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee that he had expected Sessions to recuse himself from the Russia investigation two weeks before he did so, for classified reasons that made Sessions's continued engagement in the investigation "problematic".[147]
A few days after he announced his recusal, Sessions traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump. Sessions wanted to talk about implementing Trump's proposed travel ban, but instead Trump berated him for recusing himself and asked him to reverse his recusal. Sessions refused.[148] In May 2017, Sessions offered to resign after receiving criticism from Trump, but Trump did not accept the resignation.[149]
For the rest of Sessions's tenure, Trump continued to be furious with him for his recusal, blaming it for the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.[150] Trump publicly attacked Sessions multiple times via Twitter and in public comments, saying he regretted choosing him as attorney general and that he never would have done so if he had known Sessions was going to recuse himself from the investigation.[151][152] According to Bob Woodward's book Fear: Trump in the White House, Trump called Sessions "mentally retarded" and described him as a "dumb southerner".[153][154] Trump denied ever using "these terms on anyone", although he had been recorded using the word "retarded" as an insult on two episodes of The Howard Stern Show.[154]
In addition to criticizing him, Trump often used Twitter to suggest things he thought Sessions should do or to criticize Justice Department actions.[155] According to Senator Jeff Flake, "the president has been pushing [Sessions] very openly to go after the president's enemies and lay off his friends," adding "And so far, Jeff Sessions, bless his heart, has resisted and maintained that the judiciary needs to be independent."[156] Trump demanded that Sessions investigate Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and various employees of the FBI and Justice Department. In August 2018 he said that Sessions should "stop" the Mueller investigation. He later tweeted that "Our A.G. is scared stiff and Missing in Action."[155] In an August interview Trump complained that Sessions "never took control of the Justice Department", to which Sessions in a rare response said "While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. ... I took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in."[157]
On September 3, 2018, Trump complained on Twitter that "investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time." Many lawmakers, including Republican senators, said Trump's remark was inappropriate, and a spokesperson for House speaker Paul Ryan said the Justice Department "should always remain apolitical".[158]
Trump often hinted he wanted to fire Sessions, perhaps after the November 2018 elections. Sessions told associates he did not intend to resign,[158] but on November 7, 2018, he submitted a letter of resignation to Chief of Staff John Kelly at President Trump's request.
Criminal justice
[edit]On April 3, 2017, Sessions announced that he intended to review consent decrees in which local law enforcement agencies had agreed to Department oversight.[159] U.S. district judge James K. Bredar then denied Sessions's request to delay a new consent decree with the