Tag Archives: Jeff Sessions

The Austin Statesman reports: U.S. Sen Ted Cruz said Thursday that calls for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign or recuse himself from an investigation of ties between the Russian government and the Trump campaign were “political theater,” and that Sessions’ meeting with the Russian ambassador during the campaign — that he failed to disclose at his Senate confirmation hearing …

The Hill reports: The White House is dismissing calls for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. “There’s nothing to recuse himself,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in an interview with Fox News that aired late Thursday morning. “He was 100 percent straight with the committee, and …

ABC News reports: Sen. Chuck Schumer today joined several Democratic lawmakers in calling for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ resignation amid reports that he met with the Russian ambassador to the United States on two occasions, despite denying during his confirmation hearing that he had made contact with Russian officials. “The information reported last night makes it clear beyond the shadow …

Venerable newsman Dan Rather went to town on Jeff Sessions this morning. From his Facebook page: Every once in a while in Washington, the fuse is lit for what seems to be a big scandal. Much more rarely does that fuse lead to an explosion of the magnitude we are seeing with Russia and the new Administration, and frankly the …

The Associated Press reports: The intense attention being given to the new U.S. attorney general’s meetings with Russia’s ambassador could obstruct improved Washington-Moscow relations, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. The spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters he did not know about the meetings last year between Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and Jeff Sessions, who at that time was …

Mediaite reports: NBC caught up with Attorney General Jeff Sessions this morning, just hours after a Washington Post report said that Sessions did not disclose contact he had with the Russian ambassador during the campaign when he was going through his Senate Judiciary hearing to become the nation’s top prosecutor. “Well I have not met with any Russians at any …

Raw Story reports: Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) believes Attorney General Jeff Sessions misled him during a Senate confirmation about his contacts with Russian officials during the presidential campaign. “His responses to me weren’t accurate,” Franken told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I would like to see him answer questions at a press conference and then we can decide whether he should resign …

From Breitbart editor Joel Pollak: The Post does not provide the full transcript of the question, from Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), and Sessions’s answer. Instead it summarizes the exchange in a way that makes it seem that Sessions was asked if there was any contact at all between the campaign and representatives of the Russian government. The New York Times …

The New York Times reports: In the Obama administration’s last days, some White House officials scrambled to spread information about Russian efforts to undermine the presidential election — and about possible contacts between associates of President-elect Donald J. Trump and Russians — across the government. Former American officials say they had two aims: to ensure that such meddling isn’t duplicated …

Politico reports: Top congressional Democrats called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign Wednesday after revelations that he had met with the Russian ambassador in the months before the election — meetings that Sessions did not disclose during his confirmation hearings. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) led the effort late on Wednesday night, accusing Sessions of “lying under oath” …

The Huffington Post reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday restated his opposition to marijuana use and offered an ominous warning about state-level marijuana legalization efforts, suggesting that such policies would open states to “violence,” as well as potential repercussions from the federal government. “I don’t think America is going to be a better place when people of all ages, …

Talking Points Memo reports: For the last six years, the Justice Department has sided with the citizens and civil rights groups fighting Texas’ voter ID law, which a federal judge at one point found to be intentionally discriminatory against black and Latino voters. But its position changed Monday when the department decided to drop its claim that Republican state lawmakers …

The Washington Post reports: A senior Republican lawmaker on Friday agreed that a special prosecutor should investigate Russia’s alleged interference with the 2016 presidential election. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) became one of the few Republican representatives to publicly state the need for an independent investigation into Russia’s reported election meddling. This comes as Democrats have increasingly pushed for an investigation …

The Associated Press reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions has signaled his support for the federal government’s use of private prisons, rescinding a memo meant to phase out their use. Sessions issued a new memo Thursday replacing one issued last August by Sally Yates, the deputy attorney general at the time. That memo told the Bureau of Prisons to begin reducing …

The New York Times reports: President Trump rescinded protections for transgender students that had allowed them to use bathrooms of their gender identity, overruling his own education secretary and placing his administration firmly in the middle of the culture wars that many Republicans have tried to leave behind. In a joint letter, the top civil rights officials from the Justice …

Law Newz reports: There is now a draft copy of a document circulating that shows the potential Trump administration reasoning for backing off the Obama policy regarding transgender bathroom use. The Obama administration’s contends that Title IX prohibits the discrimination on the “basis of sex” to include a requirement that facilities provide people access to bathrooms based on the sex …

The New York Times reports: A fight over a draft order that would rescind protections for transgender students in public schools has erupted inside the Trump administration, pitting Attorney General Jeff Sessions against the secretary of education, Betsy DeVos. Ms. DeVos initially resisted signing off on the order and told President Trump that she was uncomfortable with it, according to …

Politico reports: Senate Democrats will hold a special caucus meeting Wednesday morning to discuss the fallout over news reports that the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence officials were in contact during the 2016 campaign. The meeting, called by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and confirmed by a senior Democratic aide, will also discuss how to handle the fallout from …

Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: The Justice Department took a step back Friday from its prior position of advancing transgender people’s rights under existing civil rights laws. On just the second day of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ tenure at the helm of the Justice Department, the federal government filed a notice in the lawsuit Texas and other states had brought …

Politico reports: Chuck Cooper, the conservative Supreme Court litigator, is withdrawing his name from consideration to be the next solicitor general, opening the door for the husband of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway to be appointed to the role. “I am deeply honored by any consideration that I may have received by Attorney General Sessions and President Trump for appointment as …