Tag: Jeff Sessions

y Tensions swell between Sessions and FBI over senior personnel from Comey era

The following article by Devlin Barrett and Philip Rucker was posted on the Washington Post website January 22, 2018:

During questioning from lawmakers on Dec. 7, FBI Director Christopher Wray responded to President Trump’s critical tweets from Dec. 3. (Reuters)

FBI Director Christopher A. Wray has been resisting pressure from Attorney General Jeff Sessions to replace the bureau’s deputy director, Andrew McCabe, a frequent target of criticism from President Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.

The tension over McCabe and other high-level FBI officials who served during James B. Comey’s tenure has reached the White House, where counsel Donald McGahn has sought to mediate the issue, these people said. Continue reading “y Tensions swell between Sessions and FBI over senior personnel from Comey era”

Graham: Stephen Miller makes immigration deal impossible

The following article by Jordain Carney was posted on the Hill website January 21, 2018:

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) warned on Sunday that the White House staff is undercutting President Trump and Congress’s ability to get a deal on immigration.

“Every time we have a proposal it is only yanked back by staff members. As long as Stephen Miller is in charge of negotiating immigration, we’re going nowhere,” Graham told reporters as he headed into a closed-door negotiation with a bipartisan group of senators. Continue reading “Graham: Stephen Miller makes immigration deal impossible”

Sessions tries to impress Trump with moves at Justice. It hasn’t worked.

The following article by Josh Dawsey and Matt Zapotosky was posted on the Washington Post website January 11, 2018:

The relationship between President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions has deteriorated in recent months. Here’s a look at how they got to this point. (Taylor Turner/The Washington Post)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is trying to find his way back into President Trump’s good graces.

For months, Sessions has asked senior White House aides to make sure the president knows what he is doing at the Justice Department, two White House advisers said, and has told allies he hopes policy decisions that garner news coverage will please Trump. Sessions’s team at Justice has crafted a public campaign to highlight the work it is doing to advance the president’s agenda. The department has also begun looking into matters that Trump has publicly complained are not being pursued. Continue reading “Sessions tries to impress Trump with moves at Justice. It hasn’t worked.”

Trump World frustrated, angry over new book

The following article by Jordan Fabian was posted on the Hill website January 5, 2018:

Allies of President Trump are aghast at the damage caused by a new book that paints a picture of a chaotic, dysfunctional and incompetent early months of the Trump administration.

Current and former Trump aides believe many of the juiciest stories in “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” are exaggerated or wholly fictional and don’t think the book is resonating outside the Beltway among the president’s core supporters.

But they are shocked that the author, Michael Wolff, was given access to the White House for months to work on the project and stunned at the seemingly low regard some staffers have for the president as described in the book. Continue reading “Trump World frustrated, angry over new book”

Multiple Trump officials pressed Sessions not to recuse self from Russia probe

The following article by Ken Dilanian was posted on the NBC News website January 5, 2018:

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s counsel and multiple other White House officials tried to talk Attorney General Jeff Sessions out of recusing himself from the Russia investigation, a senior U.S. official told NBC News, amid reports the effort was orchestrated by Trump himself.

In the weeks before Sessions recused himself from the probe in March, White House Counsel Don McGahn and other White House officials called him and urged him not to disqualify himself from running the probe, the senior official said. Continue reading “Multiple Trump officials pressed Sessions not to recuse self from Russia probe”

At Trump’s behest, top White House lawyer urged Jeff Sessions not to step aside from Russia probe

The following article by Matt Zapotosky and Josh Dawsey was psoted on the Washington Post website January 4, 2018″

President Trump sits with Attorney General Jeff Sessions last month. Trump’s White House counsel personally lobbied Sessions to not recuse himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. (Evan Vucci/AP)

At the behest of President Trump, the White House’s top lawyer called Attorney General Jeff Sessions shortly before he recused himself from the FBI investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and tried to persuade him not to do so, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

By then, one of the people said, Sessions had essentially already made up his mind to step aside, and though the lawyer’s phone call sparked some additional discussions, the attorney general would ultimately turn over the probe to his top deputy. Continue reading “At Trump’s behest, top White House lawyer urged Jeff Sessions not to step aside from Russia probe”

Sessions to allow prosecutors to enforce federal marijuana laws, even in states where pot is legal

The following article by Emily C. Singer was posted on the mic.com website January 4, 2018:

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is rescinding guidelines dating to the Obama administration that allow marijuana growers and sellers to operate in states that have legalized the drug, potentially opening up those marijuana businesses to criminal prosecution, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

The federal government currently classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, the highest drug classification. This ranks pot in the same class as heroin and ecstasy. The Obama administration didn’t change that classification, but decided to allow marijuana growers and sellers to operate in the states that have legalized pot in some form, currently totaling 29. Continue reading “Sessions to allow prosecutors to enforce federal marijuana laws, even in states where pot is legal”

Justice Department rolls back guidance on fining poor defendants

The following article by David Shortell and Jessica Schneider was posted on the CNN website December 22, 2017:

 

Washington (CNN) — The Justice Department on Thursday rescinded a tranche of agency-issued “guidance documents” that explained and interpreted policy across a range of issues, including a 2016 memo that cautioned courts against the burdensome enforcement of fines for criminal offenders.

The document crunch comes as Attorney General Jeff Sessions has spent the better part of a year reversing Obama-era policies and legal interpretations, aligning the Trump Justice Department with administration priorities of deregulation and a “return to the rule of law.” Continue reading “Justice Department rolls back guidance on fining poor defendants”

Sessions orders review of Obama-era actions involving Hezbollah

The following article by Max Greenwood was posted on the Hill website December 22, 2017:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has ordered a review of a law enforcement effort to crack down on Hezbollah’s drug-trafficking and money-laundering operations, as well as actions by the Obama administration on the issue.

Sessions ordered the Justice Department “to evaluate allegations that certain matters were not properly prosecuted and to ensure all matters are appropriately handled,” the agency said in a statement obtained by The Hill. Continue reading “Sessions orders review of Obama-era actions involving Hezbollah”

Jeff Sessions reportedly orders review of debunked Hillary Clinton claims, violating recusal vow

The following article by Josh Israel was posted on the ThinkProgress website December 21, 2017:

Not exactly ‘fair and impartial administration of justice.’

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions

For weeks, critics of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Trump administration have pushed a widely debunked conspiracy theory that she sold 20 percent of America’s uranium to Russia in exchange for a large donation to the Clinton Foundation.

On Thursday, NBC News reported that, on orders from Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Department of Justice’s prosecutors “have begun asking FBI agents to explain the evidence they found in a now-dormant criminal investigation into a controversial uranium deal that critics have linked to Bill and Hillary Clinton.” Continue reading “Jeff Sessions reportedly orders review of debunked Hillary Clinton claims, violating recusal vow”