Tag: AG Sessions

Sessions joins Barr in pleading ignorance about Trump DOJ spying – is Rosenstein the guy or are they setting him up?

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Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions late Friday afternoon announced that he too, just like former Attorney General Bill Barr, had no idea the Dept. of Justice was spying on at least two top House Democrats on the Intelligence Committee. The scandal has shaken both the DOJ and the general public so broadly the Inspector General – less than 24 hours after The New York Times bombshell dropped – announced a wide-ranging internal investigation.

The track records of both Barr and Sessions when it comes to telling the truth – even under oath – are questionable at best and subject to interpretation.

Are they setting former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein up to take the fall? Or was it Rosenstein all along? Or both – were they all in on spying on Democrats? Continue reading.

Still digging: Jeff Sessions says Trump administration ‘never really intended’ to separate families

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website June 21, 2018:

The Trump administration said that family separation wasn’t its policy and that it couldn’t fix the problem itself. Then it gave lie to all of that by reversing the policy.

You would think it would stop barking up this tree, but you’d be wrong.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in a new interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, seems to double down on the idea that this was never the intent — although he spoke about separating families a full six weeks ago and even described it as a deterrent to potential future illegal immigration. Continue reading “Still digging: Jeff Sessions says Trump administration ‘never really intended’ to separate families”

More than 600 members of Jeff Sessions’ church just charged him with violating church rules

The following article by Daniel Burke was posted on the CNN website June 19, 2018:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions Credit:
Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

More than 600 members of the United Methodist Church have issued a formal complaint against Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a fellow church member, charging that his “zero tolerance” policy on immigration violates church rules and may constitute child abuse

The complaint charges Sessions with violating the United Methodist Church’s Book of Discipline, its code of laws and social principles. The charges could lead to a church trial, though few expect that to happen to the attorney general, the country’s top lawman

Instead, the 640 Methodists charging Sessions, who include both clergy and lay members, have asked for a “reconciling process that will help this longtime member … step back from his harmful actions and work to repair the damage he is currently causing to immigrants, particularly families and children.” The complaint is addressed to the pastors at two churches Sessions attends, in Mobile, Alabama, and Clarendon, Virginia. It charges Sessions with violating church rules or principles on child abuse, immorality, racial discrimination and “dissemination of doctrines” contrary to those of the United Methodist Church. Continue reading “More than 600 members of Jeff Sessions’ church just charged him with violating church rules”

The White House Bible Study group that influenced Trump’s family separation policy

The following article by Andrew L. Seidel was posted on the ThinkProgress website June 19, 2018:

“Jeff Sessions [will] go out the same day I teach him something and he’ll do it on camera.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and fellow members of Pres. Trump’s cabinet bow their heads in prayer during an event to mark the National Day of Prayer in the Rose Garden at the White House May 3, 2018. Credit: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Attorney General Jeff Sessions ignited a public theological debate last week when he used the Bible, specifically Romans 13, to justify the Trump administration’s policy of separating children from their parents at the U.S. border. He likely took his cues from the White House Bible Study (WHBS), a weekly Bible study for members of the president’s cabinet organized by Ralph Drollinger of Capitol Ministries.

According to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, significant staff time and resources go into coordinating the Bible study every week. Documents also show that Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, who defended the policy during a press conference Monday, is heavily involved with the WHBS. In fact, she’s the only cabinet official whose direct email address appears on the electronic invitations to the WHBS.

The day before Sessions’ remarks last Thursday, the White House Bible Study held a meeting centered on “The Importance of Parenting and the Course of the Nation.” The first paragraphs discuss “obedience to a nation’s laws” and cite Proverbs 28:4 and Romans 1:32[2] . (There are a number of spelling and Bible citation errors in the packet, including “1 Corinthians 9:27a,” as well as Romans 1:32, which may be a typo intended to cite Romans 13:2, the chapter Sessions used to justify the separation policy.) Continue reading “The White House Bible Study group that influenced Trump’s family separation policy”

Sessions says family separation is ‘necessary’ to keep the country from being ‘overwhelmed.’ Federal immigration data says otherwise.

The following article by Christopher Ingraham was posted on the Washington Post website June 18, 2018:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the Trump administration’s tough approach on illegal immigration is the result of a crisis: a mass influx of people coming in over the country’s southwestern border.

“We are not going to let this country be overwhelmed,” Sessions said in a May 7 speech  announcing a new “zero-tolerance” policy on southwestern border crossings. “People are not going to caravan or otherwise stampede our border.” Continue reading “Sessions says family separation is ‘necessary’ to keep the country from being ‘overwhelmed.’ Federal immigration data says otherwise.”

Mystery surrounds Sessions appointee to FBI investigation

The following article by Katie Bo Williams was posted on the Hill website April 6, 2018:

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions

Questions surround the work of U.S. Attorney John Huber, who is playing a key role in one of the multiple investigations surrounding President Trumpand the Justice Department.

Known as a no-nonsense prosecutor whose primary experience is fighting violent crime, the U.S. attorney for Utah is an appointee of President Obama whose job was saved by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) when Trump asked state attorneys to resign so that he could field a new slate of professionals.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions quietly tapped Huber — apparently last fall — to work in tandem with the Justice Department’s inspector general to determine whether conservative allegations of abuse at the FBI and the Justice Department merit investigation.  Continue reading “Mystery surrounds Sessions appointee to FBI investigation”

Jeffrey Toobin to his former professor Alan Dershowitz: ‘What’s happened to you?’

The following article by Derek Hawkins was posted on the Washington Post website March 22, 2018:

Back in June 2017, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh spent many minutes on his radio show extolling Alan Dershowitz, the renowned defense lawyer and Harvard Law School professor, for taking “100 percent Trumpist” positions on the Trump administration’s legal tangles.

“I don’t know what has happened to Professor Dershowitz,” Limbaugh said of the famed civil libertarian. “But whatever it is, I like it.” Continue reading “Jeffrey Toobin to his former professor Alan Dershowitz: ‘What’s happened to you?’”

Three of Mueller’s witnesses say Jeff Sessions lied to Congress

The following article by Tommy Christopher was posted on the ShareBlue Media website March 18, 2018:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has a lot to answer for, and almost no one on his side.

Trump spent his weekend assailing special counsel Robert Mueller. But the investigation just ramped up again as three witnesses claim Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied to Congress.

In November, Sessions testified that he “pushed back” against former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos’ proposal for the campaign to work with the Russians. But in the same breath, he also denied even remembering that the meeting with Papadopoulos took place.

And in a new report from Reuters, three witnesses who have spoken to either Mueller’s team or congressional investigators challenged Sessions’ claims. Continue reading “Three of Mueller’s witnesses say Jeff Sessions lied to Congress”

ICE spokesman resigns, citing fabrications by agency chief, Sessions about California immigrant arrests

The following article by Meagan Flynn and Avi Selk was posted on the Washington Post website March 13, 2018:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions scolded Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who warned the city of a possible ICE raid last month. (Reuters)

A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has resigned over what he described as “false” and “misleading” statements made by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and ICE acting director Thomas D. Homan.

James Schwab worked out of the agency’s San Francisco office until he abruptly quit last week. He said he had been told to “deflect” questions about the Oakland, Calif., mayor’s interference with an ICE raid last month and to refer reporters to statements from Sessions and Homan that suggested that hundreds of “criminals” (“criminal aliens,” Homan called them) escaped capture in Northern California because the mayor tipped them off. Continue reading “ICE spokesman resigns, citing fabrications by agency chief, Sessions about California immigrant arrests”

Jeff Sessions makes 2 ridiculous claims about the opioid crisis in less than a minute

The following article by Aaron Rupar was posted on the ThinkProgress website February 7, 2018:

“Sometimes, you just need to take two Bufferins or something and go to bed.”

Credit: Screengrab

Speaking at a Heritage Foundation event to commemorate Ronald Reagan’s birthday on Tuesday night, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said his plan for solving the opioid crisis is more Bufferins and less marijuana.

Alluding to the 7 percent drop in opioid prescriptions last year, Sessions said “my goal in 2018 is to see a further decline,” adding that “we think doctors are just prescribing too many.”

“Sometimes, you just need to take two Bufferins or something and go to bed,” Sessions added. Bufferin is an over-the-counter aspirin brand. Continue reading “Jeff Sessions makes 2 ridiculous claims about the opioid crisis in less than a minute”