Tag: Jeff Sessions

Still digging: Jeff Sessions says Trump administration ‘never really intended’ to separate families

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website June 21, 2018:

The Trump administration said that family separation wasn’t its policy and that it couldn’t fix the problem itself. Then it gave lie to all of that by reversing the policy.

You would think it would stop barking up this tree, but you’d be wrong.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in a new interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, seems to double down on the idea that this was never the intent — although he spoke about separating families a full six weeks ago and even described it as a deterrent to potential future illegal immigration. Continue reading “Still digging: Jeff Sessions says Trump administration ‘never really intended’ to separate families”

More than 600 members of Jeff Sessions’ church just charged him with violating church rules

The following article by Daniel Burke was posted on the CNN website June 19, 2018:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions Credit:
Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

More than 600 members of the United Methodist Church have issued a formal complaint against Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a fellow church member, charging that his “zero tolerance” policy on immigration violates church rules and may constitute child abuse

The complaint charges Sessions with violating the United Methodist Church’s Book of Discipline, its code of laws and social principles. The charges could lead to a church trial, though few expect that to happen to the attorney general, the country’s top lawman

Instead, the 640 Methodists charging Sessions, who include both clergy and lay members, have asked for a “reconciling process that will help this longtime member … step back from his harmful actions and work to repair the damage he is currently causing to immigrants, particularly families and children.” The complaint is addressed to the pastors at two churches Sessions attends, in Mobile, Alabama, and Clarendon, Virginia. It charges Sessions with violating church rules or principles on child abuse, immorality, racial discrimination and “dissemination of doctrines” contrary to those of the United Methodist Church. Continue reading “More than 600 members of Jeff Sessions’ church just charged him with violating church rules”

The White House Bible Study group that influenced Trump’s family separation policy

The following article by Andrew L. Seidel was posted on the ThinkProgress website June 19, 2018:

“Jeff Sessions [will] go out the same day I teach him something and he’ll do it on camera.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and fellow members of Pres. Trump’s cabinet bow their heads in prayer during an event to mark the National Day of Prayer in the Rose Garden at the White House May 3, 2018. Credit: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Attorney General Jeff Sessions ignited a public theological debate last week when he used the Bible, specifically Romans 13, to justify the Trump administration’s policy of separating children from their parents at the U.S. border. He likely took his cues from the White House Bible Study (WHBS), a weekly Bible study for members of the president’s cabinet organized by Ralph Drollinger of Capitol Ministries.

According to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, significant staff time and resources go into coordinating the Bible study every week. Documents also show that Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, who defended the policy during a press conference Monday, is heavily involved with the WHBS. In fact, she’s the only cabinet official whose direct email address appears on the electronic invitations to the WHBS.

The day before Sessions’ remarks last Thursday, the White House Bible Study held a meeting centered on “The Importance of Parenting and the Course of the Nation.” The first paragraphs discuss “obedience to a nation’s laws” and cite Proverbs 28:4 and Romans 1:32[2] . (There are a number of spelling and Bible citation errors in the packet, including “1 Corinthians 9:27a,” as well as Romans 1:32, which may be a typo intended to cite Romans 13:2, the chapter Sessions used to justify the separation policy.) Continue reading “The White House Bible Study group that influenced Trump’s family separation policy”

Sessions says family separation is ‘necessary’ to keep the country from being ‘overwhelmed.’ Federal immigration data says otherwise.

The following article by Christopher Ingraham was posted on the Washington Post website June 18, 2018:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the Trump administration’s tough approach on illegal immigration is the result of a crisis: a mass influx of people coming in over the country’s southwestern border.

“We are not going to let this country be overwhelmed,” Sessions said in a May 7 speech  announcing a new “zero-tolerance” policy on southwestern border crossings. “People are not going to caravan or otherwise stampede our border.” Continue reading “Sessions says family separation is ‘necessary’ to keep the country from being ‘overwhelmed.’ Federal immigration data says otherwise.”

Sessions says immigrants should apply for asylum at ports of entry, where many have been turned away

The following article by Rebekah Entralgo was posted on the ThinkProgress website June 18, 2018:

“They can go to our ports of entry if they want to claim asylum and they won’t be arrested,” he claimed.

Credit: Screengrab

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions addressed the National Sheriffs’ Association Monday morning in New Orleans, Louisiana, delivering a speech riddled with misinformation about the nation’s immigration policies, particularly as they relate to asylum claims.

Sessions defended the administration’s policy of separating children from their parents at the border and alleged that if immigrants simply waited their turn at ports of entry to claim asylum, they would not be arrested.

“We do have a policy of prosecuting adults who flout our laws to come here illegally instead of waiting their turn, claiming asylum at ports of entry. They can go to our ports of entry if they want to claim asylum and they won’t be arrested,” Sessions said. “We cannot and will not encourage people to bring their children or other children to the country unlawfully by giving them immunity in the process.” Continue reading “Sessions says immigrants should apply for asylum at ports of entry, where many have been turned away”

Cardinal Dolan hits Sessions’s use of the Bible to defend family separation: There’s ‘no Bible passage’ that would justify it BY

The following article by Avery Anapol was posted on the Hill website June 16, 2018:

Cardinal Timothy Dolan on Friday fired back at Attorney General Jeff Sessions for using the Bible to defend the Trump administration’s policy of separating families at the border, which he called “unbiblical.”

The archbishop of New York issued a harsh rebuke of the policy, telling CNN’s Chris Cuomo that it is “un-American.” Continue reading “Cardinal Dolan hits Sessions’s use of the Bible to defend family separation: There’s ‘no Bible passage’ that would justify it BY”

‘Prison-like’ migrant youth shelter is understaffed, unequipped for Trump’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy, insider says

The following article by Molly Hennessy-Fiske was posted on the Los Angles Times website June 14, 2018:

A rare inside look inside the Southwest Key shelters where migrant children are sent after they’re separated from their parents at the border under Trump’s new “zero tolerance” policy.

Colleagues at a government-contracted shelter in Arizona had a specific request for Antar Davidson when three Brazilian migrant children arrived: “Tell them they can’t hug.”

Davidson, 32, is of Brazilian descent and speaks Portuguese. He said the siblings — ages 16, 10 and 6 — were distraught after being separated from their parents at the border. The children were “huddled together, tears streaming down their faces,” he said. Continue reading “‘Prison-like’ migrant youth shelter is understaffed, unequipped for Trump’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy, insider says”

Why Is Trump Mad at Sessions? A Tweet Provides the Answer

The following article by Peter Baker was posted on the New York Times website June 5, 2018:

President Trump made a career of firing people on TV. Now, he is expressing his disappointment with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, but has not uttered two key words.Published OnJuly 26, 2017CreditImage by Doug Mills/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — For nearly a year, President Trump has been relentlessly attacking his handpicked attorney general for recusing himself from the Russia investigation that has so nettled him. And so in that sense, his tweet on Tuesday morning was simply the latest in a long string.

“The Russian Witch Hunt Hoax continues, all because Jeff Sessions didn’t tell me he was going to recuse himself,” Mr. Trump wrote. “I would have quickly picked someone else. So much time and money wasted, so many lives ruined … and Sessions knew better than most that there was No Collusion!” Continue reading “Why Is Trump Mad at Sessions? A Tweet Provides the Answer”

It’s not normal: Trump’s obstruction and pardon moves

The following article by Jonathan Swan and Mike Allen was posted on the Axios website June 1, 2018:

Illustration: Rebecca Zisser, Axios

By any historical measure, it’s highly unusual for President Trump to repeatedly pressure his attorney general to intervene in an investigation of the White House, as Axios scooped late yesterday.

Why it matters: By any historical measure, it’s highly unusual to have a special prosecutor probing whether a president obstructed justice during his first days in office, like the Robert Mueller investigation is doing. By any historical measure, it’s highly unusual for a president this early in his term to pardon a controversial political donor (conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza) — and to signal he might pardon other celebrity criminals, like Trump did yesterday with Martha Stewart and more. Continue reading “It’s not normal: Trump’s obstruction and pardon moves”

Trump repeatedly pressured Sessions on Mueller investigation

The following article by Jonathan Swan was posted on the Axios website May 31, 2018:

Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios

President Trump pressured Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reclaim control of the Russia investigation on at least four separate occasions, three times in person and once over the phone, according to sources familiar with the conversations.

Why it matters: The fact that there were multiple conversations shows that Trump’s pressure on Sessions to stop recusing himself was heavier than previously known. The sustained pressure made several officials uncomfortable, because they viewed it as improper and worry that it could be politically and legally problematic. Continue reading “Trump repeatedly pressured Sessions on Mueller investigation”