Mar 30, 2018 · Former Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama was the U.S. attorney general appointed by President Donald Trump from February 2017 until November 2018.
The Attorney General is a Level I position; the salary for which (along with those of what looks like most/all of the Executive Branch) was increased to $205,000 in January 2016. A similar increase also took place in January 2015; I presume it's an annual occurrence. Sessions began his Senate term in January 2014, and it extends until 2020.
Nov 07, 2018 · “We are pleased to announce that Matthew G. Whitaker, Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Department of Justice, will become our new Acting Attorney General of the United States.
Matthew Whitaker | |
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Preceded by | Jeff Sessions |
Succeeded by | William Barr |
Chief of Staff to the United States Attorney General | |
In office September 22, 2017 – November 7, 2018 |
On June 13, 2017, Attorney General Sessions testified before a Senate Intelligence Committee, and said in his opening statement: "The suggestion that I participated in any collusion or that I was aware of any collusion with the Russian government to hurt this country, which I have served with honor for 35 years, or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process, is an appalling and detestable lie."
His nomination was rejected by a judiciary committee due to concerns over disturbing statements made by Sessions concerning race. He later earned a U.S. Senate seat in 1996, winning three more successive terms over the ensuing years. The first senatorial supporter of Donald Trump for president, Sessions was nominated for U.S. attorney general after Trump's electoral win. Following a wave of Democratic opposition and protests from civil and human rights organizations, Sessions was confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate in February 2017. After the midterm elections in November 2018, Sessions resigned at the request of President Trump.
Trump also openly wondered why Sessions wasn't investigating 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, for actions that included the Clinton Foundation's ties to the 2010 sale of a uranium company to a Russian nuclear agency. The calls to investigate Clinton were echoed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, who twice wrote to the DOJ to request the appointment of another special counsel for the matter.
In his own defense, Sessions told the committee: "I am not the Jeff Sessions my detractors have tried to create. I am not a racist."
During his confirmation hearing, Sessions defended his record and vehemently denied charges of racism. "This caricature of me from 1986 was not correct," Sessions said.
Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III was born on December 24, 1946, in Selma, Alabama, the son of a general store owner, and grew up in the rural town of Hybart. Nicknamed "Buddy," he was very active in the Boy Scouts, and eventually became an Eagle Scout in 1964.
In late February 2016, Sessions became the first senator to officially endorse Donald Trump’s run for the U.S. presidency. After Trump won the electoral college and became the 45th U.S. president, he nominated Sessions to become attorney general.
Despite that, he was harshly criticized and called “throw-back to a shameful era” and “a disgrace”. Sessions subsequently handled the issue of school funding, but his work was found unconstitutional because of the differences between rich and white, and mostly black poor schools.
Sessions subsequently handled the issue of school funding, but his work was found unconstitutional because of the differences between rich and white, and mostly black poor schools.
Jeff began working as an assistant us attorney in 1975, then in 1981 President Reagan nominated him for the position of the US attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, a position he held for the next 12 years until under Bill Clinton’s presidency, he resigned. His office filed civil rights charges for the killing of Michael Donald in 1981 by two members of the Ku Klux Klan, and although Jeff did not prosecute the case, both of the murderers were convicted. In 1985, he prosecuted three African-American men for voter fraud which led to charges of selective prosecution of black voters. In the following year, the President Reagan nominated Jeff to serve on the position of the US District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, supported by Republican Alabama Senator Jeremiah Denton. However, this proposal fell through.
In his resignation letter, Sessions said he was “honored to serve” as attorney general and said his Justice Department “restored and upheld the rule of law – a glorious tradition that each of us has a responsibility to safeguard.”
During his confirmation hearing, Sessions denied accusations from Democrats that he had made racially insensitive statements in the past. Though most Democrats voted against their former colleague, his confirmation was seen as redemption for Sessions, whose nomination for a 1986 federal judgeship was rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time.
For more than a year, Trump has repeatedly lambasted Sessions over his recusal, saying he wouldn’t have installed him as the country’s top law enforcement officer had he known his attorney general would recuse himself from the Russia probe. In September, Trump said of his strained relationship with Sessions, “I don’t have an attorney general.
The Democratic leader of the House Judiciary Committee called for “answers immediately as to the reasoning” behind Sessions’ removal. His statement comes a day after Democrats retook the House, giving them the power to launch investigations.
Jeff Sessions, once one of President Trump’s most loyal and trusted advisers before infuriating Trump over his recusal from the Russia investigation, has resigned as attorney general at the request of the president. “At your request, I am submitting my resignation,” Sessions wrote in a Wednesday letter to Trump.
Trump and his aides have denied any collusion with the Russians. Sources told Fox News Whitaker will now be overseeing the Russia investigation.
In March 2017, shortly after taking office, Sessions removed himself from the Russia investigation, citing his involvement as a high-profile surrogate and adviser to Trump’s campaign. Jeff Sessions resigns at attorney general by Fox News on Scribd. Scribd. of 1.