Attorney General Sessions is in Serious Trouble

[Crossbow]

Hello all!

I have not seen this posted yet, so I thought I would do so now.

When then Senator Jeff Sessions was interviewed in the Senate by his fellow senators a few weeks to discuss his appointment as Attorney General, Jeff Sessions actually swore under oath that he did not have any contact with any Russians during the course of the presidential campaign.

However, now it turns out that Jeff Sessions had two different meetings with the Russian ambassador during the course of the presidential campaign.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slat...ssador_spoke_twice_during_trump_campaign.html

Then-Sen. Jeff Sessions spoke with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. twice last year in apparent contradiction to what the Republican Alabama senator said during his attorney general confirmation hearings, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. Sessions acted as an early surrogate for Donald Trump and met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak privately in his Senate office in September, according to the Post, while Russia was simultaneously engaged in an expansive effort to influence the U.S. election. The second meeting occurred in July at an event on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention held by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Sessions spoke informally with Ambassador Kislyak and several other ambassadors after giving a speech at the event, according to the Justice Department.

…

There are already some calls for Sessions to resign and other calls for Sessions to at least recuse himself from the issue of Russian hacking during the last presidential campaign.

Additionally, this issue may require the appointment of a special prosecutor since to handle the Russian hacking case since the Attorney General cannot be trusted to handle this case.

 

[Upchurch]

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=11739521#post11739521

But yeah, kind of a big deal.

 

[The Don]

It's been mentioned in various threads.

IMO there's enough wriggle-room in his statements so that he hasn't actually lied.

Others have suggested that he was merely fulfilling his obligations as a senior member of the senate defense committee.

If he's important enough to Trump and/or the GOP then he will escape serious censure.

If he isn't, then he may be thrown under the bus.

 

[ponderingturtle]

Lying under oath is only a problem when democrats do it. Get with the program.

 

[Regnad Kcin]

Did Sessions receive a blowjob from the Russian ambassador? No? Well, all is hunky dory then.

 

[TragicMonkey]

Did Sessions receive a blowjob from the Russian ambassador? No? Well, all is hunky dory then.

Receive? Of course not.

 

[The_Animus]

If he's important enough to Trump and/or the GOP then he will escape serious censure.

This. He is a shield for any unethical and/or illegal activity on their part. They will do everything they can to keep him.

 

[I Am The Scum]

IMO there's enough wriggle-room in his statements so that he hasn't actually lied.

I disagree.

I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.

But let's look at this in the most generous light. He is not denying that the contact took place. His excuse is that it was official state business, but apparently, he meant to answer Franken's question in light of campaign duties. If I were in his place, I would be working with all haste to present evidence that this was public work, not private. There's got to be a schedule that will back him up, or an e-mail, or even a quick TV appearance from one of his staffers.

I seriously doubt any of this will be forthcoming.

 

[Newtons Bit]

Looks like perjury to me.

 

[theprestige]

I'm waiting to see if this is serious trouble, or just more bargaining-phase "this one is the really super serious one that will finally destroy the whole Trump thing for real this time!" type stuff from the same people who previously hoped that "but his hands are stubby and small!" would do the trick.

 

[ponderingturtle]

I'm waiting to see if this is serious trouble, or just more bargaining-phase "this one is the really super serious one that will finally destroy the whole Trump thing for real this time!" type stuff from the same people who previously hoped that "but his hands are stubby and small!" would do the trick.

Look if you can insult veterans and be clear that hispanics are unqualified to be judges this is nothing for Trump. At most he will need to find a new attorney general to fight against voting rights.

 

[phiwum]

I'm waiting to see if this is serious trouble, or just more bargaining-phase "this one is the really super serious one that will finally destroy the whole Trump thing for real this time!" type stuff from the same people who previously hoped that "but his hands are stubby and small!" would do the trick.

It seems pretty plausible that Sessions lied during his hearing. This won't destroy Trump by itself, surely. At worst, it will end Sessions as AG and even that's not obvious.

But you certainly do build a mighty fine straw man. I like the hat in particular. I'm kinda curious who thought that small hands would end Trump, aside from maybe the Rubio campaign.

 

[NoahFence]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...ation-russia-links-donald-trump-a7607206.html

 

[Dr. Keith]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...ation-russia-links-donald-trump-a7607206.html

For those who don't click: Video of sessions talking about the seriousness of Clinton being accused of perjury.

 

[Spindrift]

I'm sure the administration is consulting Uncle Vlad on how to handle this.

"Arrange a few car accidents, suicides with 3 or 4 bullets to the head and some poisonings and you'll be good."

 

[jeffas69]

Jeff Sessions should resign.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Receive? Of course not.

 

[Minoosh]

Al Franken's question was rambling and if Sessions had stuck to answering it he would have been fine (granted I haven't seen the whole context). Sessions just had to give a less direct answer (or a startlingly more direct answer).

How does the head of an agency "recuse" himself, anyway? It's not like being before a judge, where it can be handed off to another judge. The agency head is an administrator of a gigantic organization. Maybe Comey would be swayed by Sessions saying "let it drop," but would he really do it? And a special prosecutor would be out of his chain of command, presumably. Not convinced those guys are independent either, though.

Sessions could say he would rigorously address causes for concern, or he could say, "You know, I actually met the Russian ambassador twice, but never did more than shake hands and exchange pleasantries."

It would be so cool if Lindsay Graham had set him up. Graham may deeply disappoint me some day but so far I like him.

 

[pgwenthold]

I disagree.


But let's look at this in the most generous light. He is not denying that the contact took place. His excuse is that it was official state business, but apparently, he meant to answer Franken's question in light of campaign duties. If I were in his place, I would be working with all haste to present evidence that this was public work, not private. There's got to be a schedule that will back him up, or an e-mail, or even a quick TV appearance from one of his staffers.

I seriously doubt any of this will be forthcoming.

The interesting part about his answer to Franken, which actually was NOT an answer to Franken's question but a statement made in response to Franken's question, is that he explicitly called himself a "surrogate" of Trump. Therefore, Mike Huckabee's daughter's claim that it was just part of doing business as a senator doesn't hold up. He admits he is a Trump surrogate.

He caused the problem here. He could have addressed Franken's question, but he volunteered the information. It would have been real easy to say, "As a Senator, I have to deal with a lot of people, and that includes Russians. However, that is always on State business."

Or he could have not said anything about his interactions with Russia, because he was never asked about them.

 

[Spindrift]

The interesting part about his answer to Franken, which actually was NOT an answer to Franken's question but a statement made in response to Franken's question, is that he explicitly called himself a "surrogate" of Trump. Therefore, Mike Huckabee's daughter's claim that it was just part of doing business as a senator doesn't hold up. He admits he is a Trump surrogate.

He caused the problem here. He could have addressed Franken's question, but he volunteered the information. It would have been real easy to say, "As a Senator, I have to deal with a lot of people, and that includes Russians. However, that is always on State business."

Or he could have not said anything about his interactions with Russia, because he was never asked about them.

Maybe he should listen to the standard lawyer's advice. Answer only the question asked and as briefly as possible and then shut up. I wonder if he has any lawyers in the family.