Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) has begun his confirmation hearing for attorney general. We have a live stream in this post.
This is expected to be one of the most tense confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet. The Democrats will ask Sessions about his record on civil rights and female rights. However, the GOP holds the majority in the Senate so more than likely he will receive confirmation.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) critiqued every single award Sessions received, trying so hard to find him guilty by association.
Former Senator Joe Lieberman said he would have voted for Sessions’s nomination.
(Can senators stop asking the same question over and over!?)
Sessions, again, says he will not support a Muslim registry.
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NB) wants Sessions to tell him after confirmation how he will list cases by priority, citing a case of an immigrant who street raced and killed Sarah Root. Everyone asked the feds to step in after the man posted bond and disappeared.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) wanted to know if Sessions would help them and the FBI to get permission to get into terrorists’ personal electronics. The FBI had an ongoing fight with Apple to get into iPhones from terrorists.
Sessions tells the committee, once again, he will enforce the antitrust laws.
Sen. Ted Cruz once again proving that Sessions is not a racist. Pointing out his prosecution Klansmen who murdered black people in Alabama. He also helped to bankrupt the KKK in the state.
Whitehouse is also asking Sessions about climate change. Is Sessions going to arrest Mother Nature?
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) wants to know if Sessions will ignore pressure from right-wing websites to cleanse the DOJ of the career attorneys that hired. Basically, in a long winded answer, he said he would.
Again, Sessions said he will uphold the laws we have, even if he opposed them while serving as a senator.
Is Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) really asking Sessions about if he would uphold laws against sexual abuse? Yes. He’s really asking Sessions if it’s sexual assault to grab a woman on her genitals without her permission.
Sessions said that anyone who comes from areas with a high risk of terrorism should have more vetting.
Sessions will also do what he needs to do to make sure no one is harassed or blocked from accessing abortion clinics.
Sessions has no plans on voting for his confirmation or other cabinet nominations.
Sen. Ted Cruz listed the corruption within the DOJ during Obama’s years. But he knows that Sessions will uphold the law. Cruz said that Obama’s DOJ has been overly politicized, including the solicitor general’s office.
We have returned. Question to Sessions: Alabama used to handcuff its prisoners to hitching posts. Sessions said the governor wanted the prisoners to work. But SCOTUS struck down hitching posts, which means Sessions wouldn’t use them now.
RECESS UNTIL 1:40PM ET
Time for Sen. Al Franken (D-MN)! He brings up the civil rights cases he worked on. Sessions said he actually filed fewer civil rights cases that he thought, but some of those he worked on were already underway. Honestly, halfway through the questioning, I lost where Franken was going.
Asked about Russian interference on the election. He says that there is no reason to doubt the intelligence agencies:
Asked about Voting Rights Act:
Sessions told Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) that he will help Trump achieve goals as long as they’re lawful. He doesn’t think special prosecutors should be appointed “willy nilly” as well. But in the right situation he will appoint one. He criticized AG Loretta Lynch for nota appointing one for the Hillary investigation.
Sessions now asked if the DOJ and FBI will be allowed to investigate a Russian connection to the Trump campaign. He said of course if there are laws violated:
Bringing up the voter fraud case, Sessions said people don’t fully understand the case. The people asked him to get involved and the plaintiffs were black people, but people hardly bring up that fact,
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) does not believe Sessions can enforce immigration laws. Session insists that he would uphold any laws that Congress passes regarding that situation. He once again said that his role as AG is not to sway policy.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) asked Sessions to address how it makes it feel when people call him a racist:
Sessions said he still thinks this way, but acknowledged that it’s the law of the land and he will respect and uphold it.
Ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) asks about sex trafficking.
Sessions promised to uphold the law.
Sessions said he would recuse himself from any issues pertaining to Hillary Clinton’s email and foundation due to his comments he made on the campaign trail.
First question:
Sessions said he will have the ability to stand up to Trump and say no.
Sessions has started his opening statement in front of the committee. He said he would not allow politics to influence his decisions, respects impartiality under the law. He also addressed the abandonment that police officers feel across the country:
He also addressed allegations of racial prejudice he faced in 1986 at a judicial confirmation hearing:
Before it even started, protestors filled the room.
The Senate Judiciary Committee announced new additions to the witness list:
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