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Chuck Schumer Wants AG Jeff Sessions To Resign And A Special Russia Prosecutor

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 03:54 PST, Mar 2, 2017

On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called on embattled Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign. Schumer made the statement at a news conference amid widespread reports that Trump’s AG pick made contact twice with the Russian ambassador during Trump’s White House bid. According to his Thursday statement, Chuck Schumer wants to see Sessions resign “for the good of the country.”

“There cannot be even the scintilla of doubt about the impartiality and fairness of the attorney general, the top law enforcement official of the land. After this, it’s clear attorney general sessions does not meet that test. Because the Department of Justice should be above reproach, for the good of the country, Attorney General Sessions should resign.”

As Talking Points Memo reports, Senator Chuck Schumer further demanded that a special prosecutor is appointed to investigate the ties between Russia and Trump and Russia and the 2016 election cycle. In addition, Schumer wants to see that special prosecutor chosen not by Jeff Sessions (as would be the standard procedure) but rather by the current acting Deputy Attorney General, Dana J. Boente. If Boente is given the role of choosing a special prosecutor for the investigation into the Trump-Russia connection, the move could be a serious blow to the Trump administration, as Boente was nominated by President Barack Obama near the end of his term.

“Now, this is not just common sense. This is what the Justice Department regulations require.”

During his highly contested confirmation hearings, AG Sessions denied having contact with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign. By Thursday, however, the waters appeared to have muddied a bit, and Sessions’ spokesperson admitted that Sessions had indeed met with a Russian ambassador twice during the campaign. However, according to that spokesperson, Sessions’ meetings were held “in an official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee” and “entirely consistent with his testimony” during the confirmation hearing in question.

As CNN reports, Chuck Schumer is far from the only prominent lawmaker to call on Jeff Sessions to recuse himself, to resign, or both. Not surprisingly, Democratic legislative leaders are demanding nothing less than the Attorney General ousted from his post; either of his own volition or otherwise. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), no fan of Trump or his administration, took to social media to demand that Jeff Session is removed from his prominent position as U.S. Attorney General. According to Warren, Sessions has become a serious national security threat.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, like Senator Chuck Schumer, is also demanding that Jeff Sessions resign his position immediately. In a statement, she claimed that he is “not fit” for his job. Like her Democratic counterpart in the Senate, Pelosi also wants to see Trump and his long alleged Russia ties investigated by someone other that Trump’s own cabinet pick.

“Now, after lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russians, the attorney general must resign. Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law-enforcement officer of our country and must resign. There must be an independent, bipartisan, outside commission to investigate the Trump political, personal, and financial connections to the Russians.”

Even high-ranking Congressional Republicans are distancing themselves from Sessions, calling on the AG to “recuse himself” from the Trump-Russia investigation. Both Senator Lindsey Graham and Representative Raul Labrador have publicly demanded that Sessions step away from the investigation, while Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) wants to see Sessions both recuse himself and explain the alleged discrepancies in his confirmation hearing testimony.

“I think the Attorney General should further clarify his testimony. And I do think he should recuse himself. I think I’m going to leave it at that.”

For his part, Jeff Sessions disagrees with the position of Chuck Schumer and other critics and claims that the allegations that have been levied against him are “false.” In a statement, he denied meeting with Russian representatives regarding the contentious presidential campaign of 2016.

“I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.”

The White House has called the allegations of “partisan Democrats” an “attack on the Trump administration.”

Despite the harsh words of Senator Chuck Schumer, many Democratic lawmakers and even some prominent Republicans, AG Jeff Sessions has given no indication that he plans to resign or recuse himself.

[Featured Image by J. Scott Applewhite/AP Images]

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