As Assault on Jeff Sessions Begins, Growing Chorus Defends Trump’s AG Nominee

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, meets with Attorney General nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016 in Washington. (Photo: AP)

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., President-elect Donald J. Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, is getting an outpouring of support as he comes under organized fire by Democrats. The former federal and state prosecutor is scheduled to appear for confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 10 and 11.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who met with the AG nominee on Tuesday to discuss the hearings, defended Sen. Sessions even as the NAACP occupied his office.

“Jeff Sessions is one of the most qualified nominees for Attorney General in history and will be an exemplary leader at the Justice Department,” Sen. Cotton said in a statement released following the meeting. “I have come to know Jeff well in our time in the Senate, and I have seen his integrity up close. He will be a steadfast defender of the Constitution and the rule of law. And he is committed to securing our borders and fixing our broken immigration system. I look forward to supporting his nomination.”

NAACP President Cornell William Brooks and other leftwing activists are staging a sit-in at Sen. Sessions’ office in Mobile, Alabama, to protest his nomination. During a press conference, the group said they will not leave until Sessions withdraws his nomination or the protesters are arrested.

The NAACP and other leftwing groups point to Sessions’ nomination for a federal judgeship in 1986 that failed after allegations surfaced that he made racist comments while he was serving as a U.S. attorney in Alabama. A former colleague claimed he at the time called the NAACP “un-American.”

Benard Simelton, president of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, said in a statement that Sessions has “been a threat to desegregation and the Voting Rights Act and remains a threat to all of our civil rights, including the right to live without the fear of police brutality.”

But Ken Blackwell, the former Ohio secretary of state and an African American, wrote in an op-ed that “freedom of speech has come under fire as well.” He called on senators to confirm his nomination without delay.

“Of course, Democrats fear government rooted in law, but they can’t admit that in public. So they are resorting to their usual smear tactics, branding Sessions as a racist,” Mr. Blackwell said. “What really scares Sessions’ opponents is that the former U.S. Attorney and Alabama Attorney General really knows the issues and what is necessary to fix the DOJ, a department badly politicized by the Obama administration. Sessions also knows where the bodies are buried there, including the ones that have been moved.—and how often they vote.”

Columnist Quin Hillyer, who has followed Sessions’ career, dismissed the criticism and charges of racism.

“Mr. Sessions has now served 20 years in the Senate,” Hillyer said. “No racist could keep bigotry closeted for so long.”

Jonathan Thompson, the Executive Director of the National Sheriff’s Association, penned an op-ed in The Hill slamming the lawlessness allowed to fester under the Obama administration and praising Sen. Sessions.

“The Senate must confirm Sen. Sessions because law enforcement and the citizens they protect need his expertise, dedication and honor at the Justice Department,” he wrote. “The nation’s sheriffs and deputies know Sen. Sessions will support them because throughout his career he has been a crime fighter who seeks justice fairly.”