Jeff Sessions Must Resign
Attorney General Jeff Sessions appears to have committed perjury and lied under oath about meetings with Russian officials, according to a new report in the Washington Post.1 This is the same Jeff Sessions who was outspoken about perjury during former President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial.2
Jeff Sessions has got to go. Since taking office, Sessions has attacked the transgender community3 and stated that a recent increase in violent crime stems from increased scrutiny of law enforcement officers, many of whom have been captured on cellphones while engaging in violence against communities of color.4 In his first major speech, he said the Justice Department would “pull back” from Obama-era investigations into these kinds of abuses.5
Hostility toward people of color, women, immigrants and the LGBTQ community have been a central theme of Sessions' long, disgraceful Senate career. As attorney general he is in a position to increase mass surveillance, target whistleblowers and the journalists they talk to, sign off on dangerous corporate mergers, and decide whether to prosecute law enforcement for civil rights violations.
The Senate shouldn't have voted to confirm him and now it has no choice but to demand his resignation. Call your senator today.
1. "Sessions Met with Russian Envoy Twice Last Year, Encounters He Later Did Not Disclose," The Washington Post, March 1, 2017: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/sessions-spoke-twice-with-russian-ambassador-during-trumps-presidential-campaign-justice-officials-say/2017/03/01/77205eda-feac-11e6-99b4-9e613afeb09f_story.html
2. "Attorney General Accused of Lying Under Oath Said Bill Clinton Should Be Prosecuted for Allegedly Doing Same", The Independent, March 2, 2017: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/jeff-sessions-perjury-bill-clinton-1999-under-oath-senate-confirmation-russia-links-donald-trump-a7607206.html
3. “Trump Rescinds Rules on Bathrooms for Transgender Students,” The New York Times, Feb. 22, 2017: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/us/politics/devos-sessions-transgender-students-rights.html
4. “Sessions Ties an Increase in Violent Crime to ‘Undermined’ Respect for Police,” The Washington Post, Feb. 28, 2017: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/02/28/jeff-sessions-ties-increase-in-violent-crime-to-undermined-respect-for-police/?utm_term=.841320ce12b6
5. “AG Sessions Says DoJ to ‘Pull Back’ on Police Department Civil Rights Suits,” NBC News, Feb. 28, 2017: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ag-sessions-says-trump-administration-pull-back-police-department-civil-n726826
Original image by Flickr user Ryan J. Reilly