Should U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions resign – or be forced to step down from leading the Justice Department?
Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Sessions said he will recuse himself from a federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 White House election. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Under mounting pressure, Sessions recused himself Thursday from any involvement in a Justice Department investigation about possible connections between the Trump campaign and Moscow – an investigation where Sessions could be a key witness.
“I have decided to recuse myself from any existing or future investigations of any matters related in any way to the campaigns for President of the United States,” Sessions told reporters.
“This announcement should not be interpreted as confirmation of the existence of any investigation or suggestive of the scope of any such investigation,” he added.
But Sessions is facing mounting pressure from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and other Democrats to resign immediately.
On Wednesday, news reports suggested that Sessions met with a Russian ambassador – some call him a spy — during the 2016 presidential election.
But during Sessions’ confirmation hearing last month, Sessions told a Senate committee that he did not meet with any Russian officials about the Trump campaign.
Pelosi said Sessions’ non-disclosure is a violation that amounts to perjury and called Sessions is a liar.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 2, 2017, about news reports of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ contact with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. during the presidential campaign. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
“(That) the top cop in our country lied under oath to the people is grounds for him to resign,” Pelosi told reporters Thursday. “He has proved that he is unqualified and unfit to serve in that position of trust.”
During last month’s Senate confirmation hearing, Sen.
Al Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota, asked Sessions what he would do if there was any evidence that anyone associated with the Trump campaign conversed with Russian officials.
“I’m not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians,” Sessions said.
Franken told CNN Thursday that Sessions’ statement now appears to be a lie.
“I am going to be sending (Sessions) a letter to have him explain himself, but he made a bald statement that during the campaign he had not met with the Russians,” Franken said. “That’s not true.”
Concerns about Sessions runs deeper with African Americans and other citizens of color.
Many civil rights advocates say Sessions opposes current civil rights laws and is already planning to reverse some of former President Obama’s judicial policies relating to law enforcement.
Last month, Sessions said the Justice Department will scale back on suing police departments for violating the civil rights of African Americans and other citizens of color – an aggressive policy implemented by the Obama administration.
“We need, so far as we can, to help police departments get better, not diminish their effectiveness. And I’m afraid we’ve done some of that,” Sessions said last month in a meeting of the nation’s state attorney generals. “So we’re going to try to pull back on this.”
Sessions said his decision would not be “wrong or insensitive to civil rights or human rights.” Instead, he said the Justice Department will offer more effective policing with help from the federal government.
Under the Obama Administration, the Justice Department began 25 investigations into police departments and sheriff’s offices and resolved civil rights lawsuits filed against police departments in 15 cities, including Baltimore, Cleveland and Ferguson, Missouri.
From the outset, Sessions’ confirmation was opposed by 150 civil rights groups because of fears that a Sessions-run Justice Department will target blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, gays, and women.
Social justice advocates are also concerned that Sessions will enforce “Stop and Frisk,” the outlawed street policy where police are allowed to pull over and detain innocent Africans American and motorists of color.
“Senator Sessions has a 30-year record of racial insensitivity, bias against immigrants, disregard for the rule of law, and hostility to the protection of civil rights that makes him unfit to serve as the Attorney General of the United States,” according to a letter civil rights groups sent to U.S. senators.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said Thursday he has “total” confidence in Sessions following accusations that he misled Congress by failing to disclose his meetings with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.
Only time will tell if Sessions can survive the federal investigation – and the growing chorus of calls for his resignation.