After it was announced that Jeff Sessions would be nominated to become the next Attorney General, backlash quickly followed. Not long after Sessions squeaked by in confirmation, it was revealed that he never disclosed recent communication with Russian officials, which has landed him in serious legal trouble.
Sessions trouble
During his confirmation hearing last month, Jeff Sessions never mentioned that he had spoken to the ambassador of Russia on two different occasions during the election. With the growing scandal linking the Kremlin to the Donald Trump administration, the latest bombshell adds even more fuel to the fire.
The news about Sessions came just weeks after retired Gen. Michael Flynn was asked to resign over his own communication with Russia that was leaked to the media. In the aftermath, Trump has done his best to silence the critics, and instead push an unfounded conspiracy theory that former President Barack Obama somehow wiretapped his office inside Trump Tower. Part of Trump's defense is to stand by Sessions, who has since recused himself from an investigation into Russia's hacking of the 2016 election. As reported by The Hill on March 9, Sessions and the White House just got even more bad news.
ACLU files ethics complaint against Sessions over Russia testimony: report https://t.co/mOYMbogdDQ pic.twitter.com/j2yWq9T8IN
— The Hill (@thehill) March 10, 2017
Christopher Anders, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), has filed an official ethics complaint against Jeff Sessions.
The complaint accuses Sessions of lying during his Senate confirmation hearing by denying and withholding information about the aforementioned meetings with the Russians. According to the complaint, "Mr. Sessions made false statements during sworn testimony on January 10, 2017, and in a subsequent written response to questions on January 17, 2017."
Playing defense
As of press time, neither Jeff Sessions nor the White House have made a comment about the legal challenge, though they have continued to deny any wrongdoing.
Donald Trump has taken his defense to another level, labeling the reports "fake news," while calling for an additional investigation into Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi after uncovering pictures of the Democratic leaders with officials from Russia. It's unknown what, if any, impact the legal complaint will have on Sessions, but it's expected that Trump will come to his defense and push back.
