Jeff Sessions Accepts Trump’s Offer To Serve As US Attorney General
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Nov 18, 2016
Update 2: U.S. SENATOR JEFF SESSIONS HAS ACCEPTED TRUMP’S OFFER TO SERVE AS U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL -TRANSITION OFFICIAL
Some background on the Sessions appointment, courtesy of Bloomberg, which elevates one of Trump’s earliest congressional backers, and one of the most conservative senators, to serve as the nation’s top law enforcement official.
The 69-year-old, four-term Alabama Republican is a hard-liner on free trade and immigration, arguing that prospective immigrants don’t have constitutional protections. He has opposed efforts to overhaul prison sentencing, back off the war on drugs and legalize marijuana.
Sessions, a former federal prosecutor, was one of the few lawmakers to defend Trump after he proposed a complete shutdown on Muslims entering the U.S. He told Stephen Bannon on a radio show in 2015 that Trump was “treading on dangerous ground” but it is “appropriate to begin to discuss” the issue.
The attorney general represents the U.S. in legal matters and gives advice to the president and government agencies. The Justice Department’s broad portfolio includes prosecution of white-collar crime and enforcement of antitrust and civil rights laws. Sessions would oversee all the U.S. attorneys’ offices.
Sessions was born in Selma, Alabama, the son of a country store owner. An Eagle Scout, Sessions received his undergraduate degree from Huntingdon College in Montgomery and his law degree from the University of Alabama. After some time in private practice, he became the U.S. attorney for Alabama in 1981 at age 34. Sessions has served as a captain in the Army Reserve and Alabama state attorney general.
One of his earliest decisions would be whether to follow through on Trump’s campaign promises to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the e-mail practices of his election opponent, Hillary Clinton. Before the election, Sessions called for a special prosecutor.
Trump also has yet to say whether he’ll ask for the resignation of Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, who he criticized over the handling of the investigation into Clinton and for not recommending criminal charges against her.
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