Jeff Sessions
Jeff Sessions is Attorney General.
- Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III grew up in Hybart, AL (two hours north of Mobile) Small town with 10 houses, K-12 rode bus for white kids only. School was segregated. Father ran country store & Sessions helped out and played football (small but tenacious linebacker). 1981 Reagan appointed him US Attorney in Mobile, prosecuted three black civil rights workers for voter fraud, zero convictions. 1986 Reagan tapped him for federal district court judge. "During confirmation a Justice Department lawyer alleged that Sessions had called the NAACP "Communist-inspired" and "un-American." One witness said Sessions once referred to a white civil rights lawyer as a "disgrace to his race." And a black prosecutor who worked closely with him testified that Sessions had called him "boy." Sessions denied all of this at the hearing." He was voted down. His defining issue today is immigration today. He opposes a legal path to citizenship, backs Trump's plan for a wall and supports limiting legal immigration to protect American jobs. (NPR)
- Popular in Alabama. Aside from his first election he has never won with less than 59 percent of the vote and in 2014 he ran unopposed. (Washington Post)
- His voting positions on the issues (OnTheIssues.org)
- Received $35,750 from the NRA to vote against gun reform (US Uncut)
- voted to expand the health coverage of fetuses at the expense of their mother's coverage. (MotherJones)
- Sessions is co-sponsoring the euphemistically named bill, S.1598 - First Amendment Defense Act (FADA), which will roll back LGBT rights in housing, employment, health care, and protections against violence and opposed reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. (Forbes)
- Human Rights Campaign report on Sessions (HRC)
Timeline
| 1981 | Jeff Sessions calls a white attorney a "race traitor" for defending black clients in a voting rights case. nytimes.com |
| 1985 | Then U.S Attorney Jeff Sessions attempts to prosecute civil rights activists claiming they had committed voter fraud by helping elderly black people register to vote. washingtonpost.com A judge and jury found the Civil Rights Activists hadn't violated any laws. |
| 1985.07.05 | Jeff Sessions unsuccessfully tries to prosecute a former aid to Martin Luther King along with two others for helping elderly black people vote. washingtonpost.com The trio if convicted would face up to 150 years in prison. |
| 1986.03 | Sessions admits that he called the NAACP "un-American" and an assistant U.S attorney testifies he said, "You know the NAACP hates white people; they are out to get them. That is why they bring these lawsuits, and they are a commie group and a pinko organization as well." npr.org |
| 1986.03 | Sessions gives testimony that conflicts with previous testimony on whether or not he made racist statements. npr.org |
| 1986.03.19 | the widow of Martin Luther King send a letter to the Senate calling Jeff Sessions a racist. npr.org |
| 1986.05 | Sessions coworkers testify under oath that he refereed to black employees as, "boy" and commented about supporting the K.K.K cnn.com |
| 2000.05.18 | Jeff Sessions attacks the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. sessions.senate.gov (See also People with Disabilities) |
| 2013.06.20 | Jeff Sessions says its, "good news for the South" after the Supreme Court guts the Voting Rights Act. dailykos.com |
| 2014.06.11 | Sessions opposes a bill to fix delays in veterans healthcare, "calling it an entitlement we can not afford." reuters.com |
| 2014.08.16 | Sessions is Amnesty's worst enemy. Here is how he stopped comprehensive immigration reform. nationalreview.com |
| 2015.04.09 | This is the full text of an opinion piece by Jeff Sessions on why he believes America should restrict legal immigration. washingtonpost.com (See also Immigrants, Immigration) |
| 2015.10.05 | During a Breitbart interview Jeff Sessions praises The 1924 National Origins Act, a law passed in order to keep Jews and Asians out of the country as “good for America.” theatlantic.com (See also Immigration, Anti-Semitism, Asian Americans, Jewish Americans) |
| 2016.02.28 | Sessions endorses Trump for President, the first US Senator to do so. politico.com |
| 2016.07.14 | Sessions is loyal to Trump and defined by his attitudes on race and immigration. npr.org |
| 2016.11.18 | Crash course on Sessions. Ten things to know about the man who has been an advisor on almost every major Trump campaign decision. washingtonpost.com |
| 2016.11.18 | If confirmed as Attorney General Sessions could overhaul the Department of Justice. (The New York Times) nytimes.com |
| 2016.11.18 | NAACP releases a statement condemning Sessions's nomination for Attorney General. naacp.org |
| 2016.11.18 | Sessions's racially charged comments derailed his judicial nomination in 1986. npr.org |
| 2016.11.18 | The only recent time Sessions voted to expand health care was to cover fetuses at the expense of their mothers. motherjones.com |
| 2016.11.22 | Sessions fought against hate crime protections for the LGBTQ community. If confirmed as Attorney general he may undermine them. motherjones.com (See also LGBTQIA) |
| 2016.11.22 | Trump team falsely claims civil rights advocates support Sessions nomination. motherjones.com |
| 2016.11.23 | Autistic Self Advocacy Network statement on Sessions proposed nomination as Attorney General. autisticadvocacy.org |
| 2016.11.23 | Sessions record on education is drawing scrutiny. news.wgbh.org |
| 2016.12.01 | The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights releases a statement opposing Sessions confirmation. civilrights.org |
| 2016.12.02 | During his tenure as Alabama's attorney general Sessions launched a campaign to prevent a gay rights group from holding a conference at the University of Alabama. cnn.com (See also LGBTQIA) |
| 2016.12.05 | Disabled Americans are alarmed by Jeff Sessions, who once described the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as "the single greatest obstacle our educators face." teenvogue.com (See also People with Disabilities) |
| 2016.12.15 | The Boston globe lists 13 high ranking members of Trump's cabinet who are staunch opponents or who have fought against LGBT rights. bostonglobe.com (See also Homophobia, LGBTQIA, Presidential Transition, Mike Pence, Ken Blackwell, Nikki Haley, Michael Flynn, Ben Carson, Tom Price, Betsy DeVos) The individuals are, Mike Pence, Tony Perkins, Ken Blackwell, Kay Coles, Ken Klukowski, Ed Meese, Betsy DeVos, Tom Price, Jeff Sessions, Ben Carson, Michael Flynn, Nikki Haley and Mike Pompeo. |
| 2017.01.04 | NAACP president among those arrested at the sit-in to protest Sessions nomination. washingtonpost.com |
| 2017.01.07 | Based on his known stances on guns, children's and elderly health, people with disabilities, LGBTQ, sexual assault, abortion, and veteran's health Sessions' nomination to Attorney General is one of Trump's most dangerous picks. forbes.com |
| 2017.01.09 | Ari Berman explains why Sessions is a ruthless opponent of voting rights. majority.fm The Nation's Majority Report podcast |
| 2017.01.09 | Jeff Sessions would put LGBT rights at grave risk if confirmed. lambdalegal.org (See also LGBTQIA) |
| 2017.01.09 | Khizr Khan, Gold Star father, calls Sessions "anti-Muslim" washingtontimes.com |
| 2017.01.09 | Matthew Shepard's mother urges senators to oppose Sessions, citing his opposition to hate crime legislation. cnn.com |
| 2017.01.09 | Sessions did not disclose his subsurface oil and mineral rights to land adjacent to a federal wildlife preserve in Alabama. This is a breach of federal ethics rules. washingtonpost.com |
| 2017.01.09 | The Donald case, in which two Ku Klux Klan members were investigated and punished while Sessions was a US attorney general, is often used by Sessions allies as an example of his civil rights record. But the details of the case don't support the role they say Session played. theatlantic.com |
| 2017.01.10 | Jeff Sessions has a long history of opposition to legal immigration, law enforcement reform, interrogation restrictions, and limits on surveillance. politico.com |
| 2017.01.10 | Jeff Sessions, who has supported the use of waterboarding as interrogation tactic, said current law makes it “absolutely improper and illegal.” nytimes.com (See also Constitutional Issues, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.01.10 | Key Moments from the first day of Sessions confirmation hearing (video) washingtonpost.com |
| 2017.01.10 | Key Points from Sessions confirmation hearings. theguardian.com |
| 2017.01.10 | Senate grills Sessions on KKK and bigotry in a hearing that was disrupted by protesters. theguardian.com |
| 2017.01.10 | Senator Feinstein grills attorney general nominee Sessions over reproductive rights. Senator Leahy pins him down on whether Trump's conduct on the Access Hollywood tape would be considered sexual assault. He said it was. nytlive.nytimes.com |
| 2017.01.10 | Senator Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Justice Department, once praised a 1924 immigration law whose chief author in the House once declared was intended to end “indiscriminate acceptance of all races.” theatlantic.com (See also First 100 Days, Immigration, Department of Justice) "Trump’s pick for attorney general made the remarks during an interview with Breitbart’s Stephen Bannon, now an adviser to the president-elect." |
| 2017.01.10 | Senators test where Sessions will enforce and limit Trump during his hearing. time.com |
| 2017.01.10 | Sessions has spent his career opposing voters rights. What will he do if he is the most powerful lawyer in the country. thenation.com |
| 2017.01.10 | Sessions says he can stand up to Trump, he would oppose a ban on Muslims entering the country and enforce a law against waterboarding even though he voted against it. newsweek.com |
| 2017.01.10 | Sessions says he will recuse himself from any investigation into Hillary Clinton during confirmation hearings. chicagotribune.com |
| 2017.01.10 | Sessions says he will stand up to Trump if he tries to go beyond the law. nytimes.com |
| 2017.01.10 | This is the full text of Coretta Scott King's letter opposing the 1986 nomination of Jeff Sessions for a federal judgeship. washingtonpost.com (See also Black Americans) |
| 2017.01.10 | Trump A.G. nominee Jeff Sessions expresses doubt that a secular person can recognize "objective truth" as well as a religious person can. slate.com |
| 2017.01.10 | Trump's cabinet nominees donated money to senators responsible for reviewing their appointments. wsj.com (See also Conflicts of Interest, Trump Cabinet, Tom Price, Mike Pompeo, Dan Coats, Mike Mulvaney) |
| 2017.01.11 | Sen. Cory Booker, Rep. John Lewis and the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus warn the Senate that Sessions would “move this country backward" during the second day of his confirmation hearing. m.motherjones.com (See also Department of Justice, Black Americans) |
| 2017.01.11 | Sen. Lindsey Graham accuses NAACP of anti-GOP bias at Sessions confirmation hearing. washingtontimes.com (See also Black Americans) |
| 2017.01.11 | Senator Booker says the next Attorney General needs more empathy than Sessions possesses. washingtonpost.com |
| 2017.01.11 | Senator Cory Booker will make history as the first seated Senator to testify against a fellow senator in the Sessions confirmation hearings. cnn.com |
| 2017.01.11 | Toomey backs Sessions for Attorney General, despite growing protests at his Philadelphia offices. phillymag.com (See also Department of Justice) |
| 2017.01.11 | What Sessions confirmation hearings reveal about Trump's priorities. bbc.com |
| 2017.01.24 | Trump expected to sign several executive orders restricting immigration from Syria and six other Middle Eastern or African countries on Wednesday January 25. reuters.com (See also First 100 Days, Immigration, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security) |
| 2017.01.25 | This is a transcript of ABC News anchor David Muir’s interview with President Trump. abcnews.go.com (See also First 100 Days, Mexico Wall, NAFTA, Trade, John Kelly, DACA, Voter Fraud, James Mattis, Mike Pompeo, Iraq, Infrastructure, Affordable Care Act, Muslim Immigration Ban) This is a transcript of ABC News anchor David Muir’s interview with President Trump on Jan. 25, 2017. |
| 2017.01.30 | Acting attorney general Sally Yates writes to Justice Department lawyers, describing ‘solemn obligation to seek justice and stand for what is right’, and instructs them not to defend Trump migration order and Trump fires her three hours later. theguardian.com (See also First 100 Days, Muslim Immigration Ban, Assaults on Government, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.01.30 | Trump’s hard-line actions have an intellectual godfather: Jeff Sessions washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days, Department of Justice, Nationalism, Immigration, Trade, Jared Kushner, Rick Dearborn) "Bannon described Sessions as “the clearinghouse for policy and philosophy” in Trump’s administration, saying he and the senator are at the center of Trump’s “pro-America movement” and the global nationalist phenomenon." |
| 2017.02.01 | U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee votes to advance Senator Jeff Sessions's Attorney General nomination to the full Senate. reuters.com (See also First 100 Days, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.02.07 | Jeff Merkley reads Coretta Scott King's letter about Jeff Sessions on Senate floor, unrebuked by Republicans, after Republicans prevented Elizabeth Warren from reading it. oregonlive.com (See also First 100 Days, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.02.08 | ACLU vows to sue Sessions if he violates Constitution as attorney general. thehill.com (See also First 100 Days, Assaults on Civil Liberties, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.02.08 | In an extraordinarily rare move, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell interrupts Warren's speech, saying she breached Senate rules by reading past statements against Sessions from the late senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and the late Coretta Scott King. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days, Assaults on Government, Assaults on Civil Liberties) Warren will be unable to take the floor for the duration of the Jeff Sessions debate. |
| 2017.02.08 | In silencing Sen. Warren, a new feminist rally cry born: 'Nevertheless, she persisted' chicagotribune.com (See also First 100 Days, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.02.08 | Jeff Sessions confirmed as attorney general despite controversies. theguardian.com (See also Department of Justice, First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.08 | Million-name petition urges Senate to deny Jeff Sessions confirmation. theguardian.com (See also First 100 Days, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.02.08 | The Senate uses an arcane unenforced rule to stop Elizabeth Warren from reading a 1986 letter written by the wife of Martin Luther King calling Jeff Sessions a racist. cbsnews.com |
| 2017.02.13 | Sessions's hardline stance on youth incarceration at odds with public's views. theguardian.com (See also Department of Justice) |
| 2017.02.15 | Given the evidence that voter identification laws suppress minority voting, how will Jeff Sessions's Justice Department deal with these laws, in Texas and elsewhere? washingtonpost.com (See also Department of Justice, Voter Suppression, Assessment) |
| 2017.02.16 | All nine Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats call on Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from any Justice Department invesitgations into Trump-Russia communications and Russian interference in the 2016 election. feinstein.senate.gov (See also Department of Justice, Russian Meddling in Election, First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.16 | Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats request that Attorney General Jeff Sessions recuse himself from any investigations into communications between Trump team's and Russia, and that the White House counsel, Department of Justice and FBI preserve materials relevant to those contacts. theguardian.com (See also First 100 Days, Michael Flynn, Russian Meddling in Election) |
| 2017.02.22 | According to three Republicans with knowledge of the situation, Betsy DeVos wanted to keep protections for transgender schoolchildren in place but was overruled by Trump and Jeff Sessions. slate.com (See also Betsy DeVos, LGBTQIA, Department of Education, First 100 Days, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.02.23 | Attorney General Jeff Sessions reverses an Obama-era directive to stop using private prisons. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.02.23 | Trump's administration on rescinds federal rules that allowed transgender students to use the bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity. mobile.nytimes.com (See also LGBTQIA, Betsy Devos, Department of Education) |
| 2017.02.27 | Sessions falsely claims legalized marijuana is causing, "real violence" across the United States. snopes.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.28 | Jeff Sessions claims legal cannabis causes violent crime despite lack of any evidence. independent.co.uk (See also Department of Justice, Drugs) |
| 2017.03.01 | Justice Department officials say Attorney General Jeff Sessions, charged with leading investigation into Russian interference in U.S. election, lied under oath about contact with Russian ambassador in 2016 while he was part of Trump's campaign team. washingtonpost.com (See also Russian Meddling in Election, Corruption, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.03.03 | Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) shoots down a Democratic push for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to return to the Senate's Judiciary committee to discuss his conversations with the Russian ambassador. thehill.com (See also First 100 Days, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.03.03 | The Trump campaign's national-security policy representative for the Republican National Convention, J.D. Gordon, admits that he pushed to alter an amendment to the GOP's draft policy on Ukraine at the Republican National Convention last year to further align it with President Donald Trump's views. businessinsider.com (See also Russia, Ukraine, Conflicts of Interest) |
| 2017.03.04 | Before leaving for Mar-A-Lago for the weekend, Trump summons senior staff to the Oval Office and goes "ballistic" over Sessions's decision to recuse himself from portions of any investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign election, and then, after the meeting, leaves Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus behind in D.C. abcnews.go.com (See also First 100 Days, Russian Meddling in Election, Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon) |
| 2017.03.10 | ACLU files ethics complaint against Sessions over communications with Russian ambassador. His denial that he communicated with them violates Alabama's rules of professional conduct for lawyers. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.03.10 | Attorney General Jeff Sessions seeks resignation of 46 United States attorneys because they were hired by the Obama administration. bigstory.ap.org (See also Department of Justice) WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Jeff Sessions seeks resignation of 46 United States attorneys remaining from prior administration. |
| 2017.03.10 | U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions abruptly asks the remaining 46 chief federal prosecutors left over from the Obama administration to resign, including Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who was asked to stay on in November by Trump. reuters.com (See also First 100 Days, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.03.13 | Department of Justice asks for more time to respond to a request from lawmakers for evidence about Trump's allegation that then-President Barack Obama wiretapped him during the 2016 election campaign. reuters.com (See also First 100 Days, Department of Justice, False Statements) |
| 2017.03.15 | Jeff Sessions Goes says marijuana is "only slightly less awful" than heroin. rollingstone.com |
| 2017.06.06 | Attorney General Jeff Sessions offered to resign from his post in recent weeks, amid tension with Donald Trump over his decision to recuse himself from the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. wsj.com (See also Russian Meddling in Election, Legal Activity, Corruption) |
| 2017.06.06 | The day after Trump asked FBI director James B. Comey to end an investigation into his former national security adviser, Mr. Comey confronted Attorney General Jeff Sessions and said he did not want to be left alone again with the president, believing Mr. Sessions should protect the F.B.I. from White House influence. nytimes.com (See also Michael Flynn, Russian Meddling in Election, Legal Activity, Corruption) |
| 2017.06.08 | Philip Allen Lacovara, a former U.S. deputy solicitor general in the Justice Department, says James B. Comey placed President Trump in the sights of a federal criminal investigation, laying out evidence sufficient for a case of obstruction of justice. washingtonpost.com (See also Legal Activity, Unpresidential Behavior, Corruption, Jared Kushner, Russian Meddling in Election) |
| 2017.06.09 | Former FBI Director James Comey told senators in a closed hearing Thursday afternoon that Attorney General Jeff Sessions may have had a third interaction with Russia's ambassador to the US. cnn.com (See also Russia) |
| 2017.06.16 | The senior Justice Department official with ultimate authority over the special counsel's probe of Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 election has privately acknowledged to colleagues that he may have to recuse himself from the matter, which he took charge of only after Attorney General Jeff Sessions' own recusal. abcnews.go.com (See also Russian Meddling in Election, Trump Relationship with Russia, Legal Activity) |
| 2017.07.12 | Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions asking why the DOJ settled a major money-laundering case involving a real-estate company owned by the son of a powerful Russian government official whose lawyer (Natalia Veselnitskaya) met with Donald Trump Jr. last year. businessinsider.com (See also Corruption, Trump Relationship with Russia, Donald Trump Jr) |
| 2017.07.13 | In response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, the Justice Department released Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s SF-86 security-clearance that shows he denied having any contact with foreign governments or their representatives. theatlantic.com (See also Administration Errors, Russia, Michael Flynn) He did. |
| 2017.07.19 | The US Justice Department rolled out a new policy that allows the government to seize more possessions and money under federal authority, in some cases circumventing state or local laws, even when a person has not been charged or convicted of a crime. buzzfeed.com (See also Assaults on Civil Liberties, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.07.19 | Trump harshly criticized his attorney general and one of his most loyal supporters, Jeff Sessions, for recusing himself from the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, indicating that he regretted the choice. washingtonpost.com (See also Russian Meddling in Election, Trump Relationship with Russia, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.07.20 | Trump claims Jeff Sessions' recusal is "very unfair" to him. washingtonpost.com (See also Department of Justice, Russia, Trump Relationship with Russia, Russian Meddling in Election, Legal Issues) |
| 2017.07.21 | Russia’s ambassador to Washington told his superiors in Moscow that he discussed campaign-related matters, including policy issues important to Moscow, with Jeff Sessions during the 2016 presidential race, contrary to public assertions by the embattled attorney general. washingtonpost.com (See also 2016 Campaign, Russia, Russian Meddling in Election, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.07.24 | In his first public defense of his meetings with Russian officials during Donald Trump’s campaign and transition, Jared Kushner on Monday presented his encounters with those operatives as innocent interactions, saying "I did not collude." politico.com (See also Jared Kushner, 2016 Campaign, Russian Meddling in Election) |
| 2017.07.25 | Trump launched another public assault on his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, questioning why the Justice Department chief has not done more to investigate alleged “crimes” by Hillary Clinton. washingtonpost.com (See also Unpresidential Behavior, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.07.27 | Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters he planned to introduce legislation that would block any Trump attempts to fire the special counsel. politico.com (See also Legal Issues, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.08.01 | Justice Department officials are planning a new project to investigate and sue universities over affirmative action admissions policies they determine discriminate against white applicants. washingtonpost.com (See also Department of Justice, Black Americans, Asian Americans, Mexican Americans, Department of Education) |
| 2017.08.02 | Instead of looking at Russian meddling in last year’s election, Donald Trump’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey and the president’s public drubbing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Republican Bob Goodlatte of Virgina, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has a different priority: investigating Hillary Clinton. bloomberg.com (See also 2016 Campaign, Corruption, Russian Meddling in Election, Assaults on Government) |
| 2017.08.04 | Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a harsh rebuke of leaks and the media that report them, and signaled that the Justice Department could be changing how it deals with reporters in such cases, while offering no details about the scope or timeline of the review. buzzfeed.com (See also Attempts to Discredit Media, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.08.04 | The Senate blocked Trump from being able to make recess appointments on Thursday as lawmakers leave Washington for their August break. thehill.com (See also Trump Cabinet) |
| 2017.08.08 | The Justice Department has reversed its position in a high-profile voting case in Ohio, siding with the state in its effort to purge thousands of people from its rolls for not voting in recent elections. washingtonpost.com (See also Fascism, Department of Justice) The move is part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration to support restrictions on who is eligible to vote, a radical change in philosophy from the previous Justice Department, which sued a number of states over voting laws that it deemed discriminatory against minorities. |
| 2017.08.24 | Congressional investigators have unearthed an email from a top Trump aide, Rick Dearborn, who is now Trump's deputy chief of staff, that referenced a previously unreported effort to arrange a meeting last year between Trump campaign officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin. cnn.com (See also 2016 Election, Russian Meddling in Election, Trump Relationship with Russia, Russia) |
| 2017.08.28 | Donald Trump signed an executive order rescinding former President Barack Obama's restrictions on the transfer of military-style equipment from the Department of Defense to local law enforcement agencies. politico.com (See also Department of Defense, Fascism) |
| 2017.09.04 | The Environmental Protection Agency has taken the unusual step of putting a political operative in charge of vetting the hundreds of millions of dollars in grants the EPA distributes annually, assigning final funding decisions to a former Trump campaign aide with little environmental policy experience. washingtonpost.com (See also Assaults on Government, Environmental Protection Agency, Environment, Scott Pruitt) |
| 2017.09.05 | The Trump administration announced Tuesday it would begin to unwind an Obama-era program known as DACA that allows younger undocumented immigrants to live in the country without fear of deportation, calling the program unconstitutional. washingtonpost.com (See also Immigration, Department of Homeland Security, Racism, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.10.05 | US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has reversed a federal government policy that said transgender workers were protected from discrimination under a 1964 civil rights law. buzzfeed.com (See also LGBTQIA, Legal Activity, Department of Justice) Sessions' directive says, "Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination encompasses discrimination between men and women but does not encompass discrimination based on gender identity per se, including transgender status.” |
| 2017.10.10 | A little-noticed mandate from the Trump administration has cleared the way for some people with outstanding arrest warrants to purchase guns, a change that worries law enforcement officials who say it could be allowing dangerous criminals to arm themselves. myajc.com (See also Department of Justice) |
| 2017.10.18 | A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the U.S. government to allow an undocumented teenager in its custody to have an abortion, after saying she was “astounded” the Trump administration was trying to prevent the procedure. washingtonpost.com (See also Immigrants, Women, Legal Issues, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.10.18 | In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he can’t ‘make a blanket commitment’ not to jail journalists for doing their jobs. washingtonpost.com (See also Assaults on Civil Liberties, Attempts to Discredit Media, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.11.02 | Standing before reporters in February, Donald Trump said unequivocally that he knew of nobody from his campaign who was in contact with Russians during the election, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions has told the Senate the same thing, but court documents unsealed this week cast doubt on both statements and raised the possibility that Mr. Sessions could be called back to Congress for further questioning. nytimes.com (See also Trump Relationship with Russia, Russian Meddling in Election, Legal Issues) |
| 2017.11.03 | Former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page privately testified that he mentioned to Jeff Sessions he was traveling to Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign. cnn.com (See also Russia, Russian Meddling in Election, Trump Relationship with Russia) |
| 2017.11.07 | Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump' campaign whose visit to Moscow during the election has drawn scrutiny, send an email to fellow Trump aides during his trip describing "a private conversation" with a senior Russian official who spoke favorably of the Republican candidate, contradicting past statements about this trip to Russia. washingtonpost.com (See also Trump Relationship with Russia, Russian Meddling in Election, False Statements) |
| 2017.11.08 | The U.S. Department of Justice has told AT&T that it would be required to sell CNN as a condition of approval for its proposed $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner, adding that AT&T is opposed to such a divestiture, and is prepared to take the Trump Administration to court. axios.com (See also Conflicts of Interest, Fascism, Unprecedented Actions, Department of Justice, Legal Issues) |
| 2017.11.13 | Attorney General Jeff Sessions is entertaining the idea of appointing a second special counsel to investigate a host of Republican concerns — including alleged wrongdoing by the Clinton Foundation and the controversial sale of a uranium company to Russia — and has directed senior federal prosecutors to explore at least some of the matters and report back to him and his top deputy. washingtonpost.com (See also Assaults on Government, Corruption, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.11.14 | U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he now recalls a meeting in March 2016 that has come under scrutiny as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether President Donald Trump’s election campaign colluded with Russia. reuters.com (See also Department of Justice, Trump Relationship with Russia, Russia, Legal Issues) |
| 2017.11.15 | A federal judge in Philadelphia ruled against the Trump administration's policy of withholding law enforcement grants from so-called sanctuary cities, because it refuses full cooperation with federal authorities on immigration. thehill.com (See also Immigration, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.11.19 | An FBI report on the rise of black “extremists” is stirring fears of a return to practices used during the civil rights movement, when the bureau spied on activist groups without evidence they had broken any laws. apnews.com (See also Assaults on Civil Liberties, Racism) |
| 2017.11.19 | Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team investigating whether Donald Trump sought to obstruct a federal inquiry into connections between his presidential campaign and Russian operatives has now directed the Justice Department to turn over a broad array of documents, suggesting that the Special Counsel is still actively digging into, among other matters, whether Trump or any other administration official improperly tried to influence an ongoing investigation. abcnews.go.com (See also Russian Meddling in Election, Corruption, Department of Justice, Legal Activity) |
| 2017.11.24 | Jeff Sessions is methodically reshaping the Justice Department to reflect his nationalist ideology and hard-line views, from calling for prosecutors to pursue the most serious charges possible to altering the department's legal stances in cases involving voting rights and LGBTQ issues some would call discrimination. washingtonpost.com (See also Department of Justice, LGBTQIA, Racism, Nationalism, Immigration, Muslim Immigration Ban, Assaults on Civil Liberties) |
| 2017.11.30 | Attorney General Jeff Sessions declined to answer Congressman Adam Schiff's question asking whether President Trump ever asked him to obstruct the ongoing investigation into Russian inference in the 2016 presidential election. msn.com (See also Department of Justice, Russian Meddling in Election, Corruption, Trump Relationship with Russia) |
| 2017.12.15 | The Department of Justice acknowledged in a statement that copies of private text messages exchanged between two former special-counsel investigators were disclosed to certain members of the media before they were given to Congress, even though those disclosures "were not authorized." businessinsider.com (See also Legal Issues, Reversals, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.12.21 | On the orders of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Justice Department prosecutors have begun asking FBI agents to explain the evidence they found in a now dormant criminal investigation into a controversial uranium deal that critics have linked to Bill and Hillary Clinton. nbcnews.com (See also Fascism, Belief in Conspiracy Theories, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.12.21 | The Justice Department wiped a wide swath of "guidance documents" off the books on Thursday, withdrawing 25 documents — including one addressing integration of people with disabilities in state and local government programs and another on standards for assessing citizenship status discrimination. buzzfeed.com (See also People with Disabilities, Department of Justice, Immigrants) |
| 2018.01.02 | Donald Trump's pick to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) called for a crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities, saying politicians who help run them should be charged with crimes. thehill.com (See also Fascism, Immigration, Department of Justice) |
| 2018.01.04 | Donald Trump gave firm instructions in March to the White House’s top lawyer: stop the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, from recusing himself in the Justice Department’s investigation into whether Mr. Trump’s associates had helped a Russian campaign to disrupt the 2016 election. nytimes.com (See also Department of Justice, 2016 Election, Corruption, Russian Meddling in Election) |
| 2018.01.21 | Even though the Trump administration released a report supposedly from the Department of Homeland Security saying that "73% of terrorists were ‘foreign-born," DHS analysts had nothing to do with the report or the conclusion. thedailybeast.com (See also Immigration, Nationalism, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Muslims) |
| 2018.01.22 | Attorney General Jeff Sessions has consistently urged FBI Director Christopher Wray to make a “fresh start” by cleaning house and firing his core team, including Andrew McCabe - the man who the White House just picked to lead the FBI when Donald Trump fired James Comey, causing Wray to threaten his resignation. splinternews.com (See also Corruption, Legal Issues, Department of Justice) |
| 2018.01.23 | Attorney General Jeff Sessions was questioned for several hours as part of the special counsel investigation, and the former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, was interviewed by the office last year, marking the first time that investigators for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, are known to have questioned a member of President Trump’s cabinet. nytimes.com (See also Department of Justice, Trump Relationship with Russia, Legal Issues) |
| 2018.01.29 | Andrew G. McCabe abruptly stepped down on Monday as the F.B.I.’s deputy director after months of withering criticism from Donald Trump, telling friends he felt pressure from the head of the bureau to leave, adding to what has already been a chaotic upheaval at the F.B.I. under Mr. Trump, who has responded to an investigation into his campaign with broadside attacks against both the bureau and the Justice Department. nytimes.com (See also Unprecedented Actions, Unpresidential Behavior, Corruption, Department of Justice) |
| 2018.02.01 | The Department of Justice has “effectively shuttered” an office created during the Obama administration to expand access to legal services to people who can’t afford them. splinternews.com (See also Department of Justice, Americans in Poverty) |
| 2018.02.09 | Rachel L. Brand, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, plans to step down after nine months on the job as the country’s top law enforcement agency has been under attack by Donald Trump. nytimes.com (See also Resignations and Dismissals, Department of Justice, 2016 Election) |
| 2018.02.16 | After less than 13 months, more than 40 percent of the people Trump originally picked for Cabinet-level jobs have faced ethical or other controversies. washingtonpost.com (See also Administration Errors, Trump Cabinet, Corruption, Conflicts of Interest, Tom Price, Ryan Zinke, Steven Mnuchin, John Kelly, Ben Carson) |
| 2018.02.25 | More than 13 months into the Trump administration, the Justice Department is now officially without its Senate-confirmed No. 3 in charge revealing that there are very few people serving in “permanent” roles in the Justice Department. buzzfeed.com (See also Department of Justice, Assaults on Government) |
| 2018.03.01 | Donald Trump suggested using the death penalty on drug dealers to address the opioid epidemic, equating providing lethal drugs with murder. politico.com (See also Domestic Policy, Unpresidential Behavior, Department of Justice) |
| 2018.03.06 | The Justice Department is suing California over immigration laws that oppose Mr. Trump’s agenda, saying state laws make it impossible for federal immigration officials to deport criminals born outside of the United States. nytimes.com (See also Immigration, Department of Justice, Legal Activity) |
| 2018.03.13 | The San Francisco spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has resigned over what he described as “false” and “misleading” statements made by top-ranking officials, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions and ICE Acting Director Thomas D. Homan. washingtonpost.com (See also Resignations and Dismissals, Department of State, False Statements, Immigration) |
| 2018.03.16 | Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, a little more than 24 hours before McCabe was set to retire — a move that McCabe alleged was an attempt to slander him and undermine the ongoing special counsel investigation into the Trump campaign. washingtonpost.com (See also 2016 Campaign, Department of Justice, Conflicts of Interest, Resignations and Dismissals) |
| 2018.03.18 | U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ testimony that he opposed a proposal for Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign team to meet with Russians has been contradicted by three people who have spoken about the matter to investigators with Special Counsel Robert Mueller or congressional committees. reuters.com (See also False Statements, leg, Legal Issues, trump, Trump Relationship with Russia) |
| 2018.03.21 | Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed states to pursue the death penalty in certain drug-related cases as an answer to the opioid epidemic—a plan Donald Trump first announced this week in New Hampshire. splinternews.com (See also Department of Justice, Domestic Policy) |
| 2018.03.21 | Nearly a year before Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired senior FBI official Andrew McCabe for what Sessions called a "lack of candor," McCabe oversaw a federal criminal investigation into whether Sessions himself lacked candor when testifying before Congress about contacts with Russian operatives. abcnews.go.com (See also False Statements, Department of Justice, Resignations and Dismissals) |
| 2018.04.29 | The Justice Department deleted language about press freedom and racial gerrymandering from its internal manual. buzzfeed.com (See also Department of Justice, Assaults on Civil Liberties) |
| 2018.05.25 | Mark S. Inch, the man in charge of the federal prison system, has resigned, stating he was tired of the Trump administration flouting "departmental norms" and complained that Jeff Sessions and Jared Kushner had marginalized his role. nytimes.com (See also Resignations and Dismissals, Department of Justice, Jared Kushner) |
| 2018.05.29 | Donald Trump objected to Jeff Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, said that he needed a "loyalist" overseeing the inquiry, berated Mr. Sessions and told him he should reverse his decision, an unusual and potentially inappropriate request. nytimes.com (See also Legal Issues, Department of Justice, Russian Meddling in Election) |
| 2018.06.05 | The Trump administration has put its search for the Justice Department’s No. 3 official on the back burner after failing to persuade several candidates to take the challenging position, in the latest sign of the difficulties besetting the agency. wsj.com (See also Department of Justice) |
| 2018.06.11 | The Trump administration Monday overturned asylum protections for domestic violence victims in a decision that could affect thousands of asylum seekers from Central America. cnn.com (See also Immigration, Department of Justice) |
| 2018.06.12 | The Trump administration is looking to build tent cities at military posts around Texas to shelter 1,000 to 5,000 unaccompanied migrant children being held in detention. mcclatchydc.com (See also Department of Health and Human Services, Immigration) More than 10,000 migrant children are being held at 100 HHS shelters, which are now 95% full. |
| 2018.06.15 | About 2,000 children have been separated from their families at the border over a six-week period during a new "zero tolerance policy" on illegal entries, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security figures. apnews.com (See also Immigration, Department of Homeland Security) |
| 2018.06.18 | Across immigration, policing, criminal justice, and voting rights, the attorney general is pushing an agenda that could erase many of the legal gains of modern America's defining movement. theatlantic.com (See also Assaults on Civil Liberties, Department of Justice, Reversals, Racism) |
| 2018.06.18 | Amid growing backlash over the administration's policy resulting in family separation, the head of the Department of Homeland Security repeated a statement Trump officials have made to justify their tough stance on immigration: There is a crisis at the border, but according to DHS statistics for recent years, there has actually been a steady decline in border apprehensions over the past two decades. buzzfeed.com (See also False Statements, Immigration, Department of Homeland Security) |
| 2018.06.18 | The Trump administration said that it had separated 1,995 children from parents facing criminal prosecution for unlawfully crossing the border over a six-week period, as Donald Trump sought to shift blame for the widely criticized practice that has become the signature policy of his aggressive immigration agenda. nytimes.com (See also Immigration, Unprecedented Actions, Department of Homeland Security) |
| 2018.06.19 | Members of Jeff Sessions' own church filed a formal complaint against the attorney general, accusing him of "child abuse," "immorality," and "racial discrimination" and the “dissemination of doctrines contrary to the established standards of doctrines” of the United Methodist Church. abcnews.go.com (See also Immigration, Racism, Department of Justice) |
| 2018.06.29 | The Department of Justice, under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, is drafting a plan that would totally overhaul asylum policy in the United States, barring people from getting asylum if they came into the US between ports of entry and were prosecuted for illegal entry, adding presumptions that would make it extremely difficult for Central Americans to qualify for asylum, and codify — in an even more restrictive form — an opinion written by Sessions in June that attempted to restrict asylum for victims of domestic and gang violence. vox.com (See also Immigration, Department of Justice) |
| 2018.07.03 | The Trump administration will encourage the nation’s school superintendents and college presidents to adopt race-blind admissions standards, abandoning an Obama administration policy that called on universities to consider race as a factor in diversifying their campuses. nytimes.com (See also Reversals, Racism, Assaults on Civil Liberties, Department of Education) |
| 2018.07.11 | The Senate voted 51-48 on Wednesday to confirm Brian Benczkowski as an assistant attorney general at the Justice Department, ending an 18-month delay in which its Criminal Division operated without a permanent leader, despite his legal work for a Russian bank. npr.org (See also Russia, Conflicts of Interest, Department of Justice) |
| 2018.07.12 | The Trump administration is implementing a new asylum policy at the border that will result in potentially thousands of asylum seekers being turned away before they can plead their case in court, as claims based on fear of gang and domestic violence will be immediately rejected, and the guidance tells officers they should consider whether an immigrant crossed the border illegally and weigh that against their claim, potentially rejecting even legitimate fears of persecution if the immigrant crossed illegally. cnn.com (See also Immigration, Department of Homeland Security) |
| 2018.07.30 | Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Department of Justice is creating a "religious liberty task force." thehill.com (See also Assaults on Civil Liberties, Department of Justice) |
| 2018.08.01 | Donald Trump called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday to end the special counsel investigation, an extraordinary appeal to the nation’s top law enforcement official to halt an inquiry directly into the president. nytimes.com (See also Criminality, Legal Issues, Department of Justice, Trump Relationship with Russia) |
| 2018.08.07 | Twenty-one Senate Democrats criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday for his decision to rescind guidance memos on affirmative action — which instructed schools on how they can legally consider the race of applicants to promote diversity — and pressed him to hand over records on racial discrimination complaints. buzzfeednews.com (See also Racism, Betsy DeVos, Department of Education) |
| 2018.08.09 | A federal judge in Washington halted a deportation in progress and threatened to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt after learning that the Trump administration started to remove a woman and her daughter while a court hearing appealing their deportations was underway. washingtonpost.com (See also Immigration, Legal Activity, Department of Justice) “This is pretty outrageous,” U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said after being told about the removal. “That someone seeking justice in U.S. court is spirited away while her attorneys are arguing for justice for her?” |
| 2018.09.03 | Donald Trump attacked Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Justice Department in connection with the indictments of two GOP congressmen on corruption charges, saying that the Justice Department should take politics into consideration in their work. washingtonpost.com (See also Department of Justice, Unprecedented Actions) |
| 2018.09.05 | The Trump administration has consistently sought to exaggerate the potential security threat posed by refugees and dismissed an intelligence assessment last year that showed refugees did not present a significant threat to the U.S. nbcnews.com (See also False Statements, Immigration, Department of State) Hard-liners in the administration then issued their own report this year that several former officials and rights groups say misstates the evidence and inflates the threat posed by people born outside the U.S. |
| 2018.09.19 | U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced new limits on the ability of immigration judges to terminate deportation cases on Wednesday, the latest in a series of decisions to facilitate the removal of immigrants in the country illegally. reuters.com (See also Immigration, Legal Activity, Department of Justice) |
| 2018.10.11 | The Department of Justice said in a new court filing that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross talked with Stephen Bannon, then President Trump’s chief White House strategist, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions about adding the citizenship question to the 2020 census, which is contrary to what he testified to Congress. thehill.com (See also False Statements, Voter Suppression, Wilbur Ross, Department of Commerce, Department of Justice, Steve Bannon) |
| 2018.11.07 | Donald Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions, replacing him with a loyalist who has echoed the president’s complaints about the special counsel investigation into Russia’s election interference and will now take charge of the inquiry. nytimes.com (See also Resignations and Dismissals, Department of Justice, Russia, Russian Meddling in Election) |
| 2018.11.08 | Before being appointed to lead the Justice Department, Matthew Whitaker promoted a company accused of fraud and deceiving clients. washingtonpost.com (See also Corruption, Criminality, Department of Justice) |
| 2018.11.08 | Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions has drastically limited the ability of federal law enforcement officials to use court-enforced agreements to overhaul local police departments accused of abuses and civil rights violations. nytimes.com (See also Assaults on Civil Liberties, Department of Justice) Jeff Sessions, fired as attorney general, has expressed skepticism about Obama-era efforts to improve relations between the police and their communities, saying the pacts vilify law enforcement. |
| 2018.11.13 | Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, Donald Trump's choice to temporarily replace Jeff Sessions at the Justice Department, is facing a legal challenge to his appointment after less than a week on the job, as Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh's office filed court papers arguing that because Whitaker isn't a Senate-confirmed official, his appointment violates both federal law and the US Constitution. buzzfeednews.com (See also Legal Activity, Department of Justice) |
| 2018.12.04 | The Trump administration freed federal prosecutors on Thursday to more aggressively enforce marijuana laws, effectively threatening to undermine the legalization movement that has spread to six states, rescinding an Obama-era policy that had discouraged federal prosecutors from bringing charges of marijuana-related crimes in states that have legalized sales of the drug. nytimes.com (See also Reversals, Department of Justice) |
| A lawsuit in the 1990s had Alabama poised to fund poor black school districts as fairly as wealthy white schools. As attorney general Jeff Sessions helped kill it. propublica.org (See also Department of Justice) |
Analysis
Though most of the focus has been on Sessions' history of racism, Sessions has been one of the Senate's most vocal anti-immigration proponents. He has taken a stance against immigration bills providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and fought to slow the pace of legal immigrants "so that wages can rise, welfare rolls can shrink and the forces of assimilation can knit us all more closely together." He has also stated that President Obama's Justice Department flouted the will of Congress by failing to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. The Los Angeles Times cites hiring tougher immigration judges, stepping up prosecutions of low-level immigration-law violations, and cutting off law enforcement funds to cities that don't cooperate with a harsher immigration policy as just three steps Sessions could pursue as Attorney General.
Assessments
Eliana Johnson — The National Review
On Aug. 6, 2014, discussed Sessions record on immigration
Sessions, 67, is a low-profile guy. Though he is not well known nationally, he has for years now been the instrumental force in quashing repeated attempts to pass comprehensive immigration reform. He has a gentle, almost grandfatherly quality, but he doesn’t shy away from combat. He derided the 2007 bill as “no illegal alien left behind”; in a single press conference, he blasted it as a “colossal error,” an “absolute scandal,” and a “fiscal disaster.” He declared: “Good fences make good neighbors.”
Frank Sharry — America's Voice
Executive Director of America’s Voice Education Fund, Frank Sharry, on Jan. 9, 2017, said:
Anyone who votes to confirm Sessions as Attorney General must realize they would then own every action he takes in office.”
- 2016.11.18 Sessions as Attorney General is an insult to Justice. (Op-ed The New York Times)
- 2016.11.21 Sessions fought for Alabama's unconstitutional inequitable school funding which continued a legacy of separate and unequal access to education particularly for poor and disabled Alabama students. (New York Times)
- 2017.01.09 Sessions was too extreme for Republicans in 1986. Is he too extreme today? (Vermont Press Bureau)
- 2017.01.11 Sessions fights for Racist outcomes. Who cares what is in his heart? (Slate)