Attorney General Jeff Sessions is under fire for possibly lying during his confirmation hearing. Sessions was asked about the Trump campaign’s possible contacts with Russia during the election season, and under oath, Sessions said that neither he nor anyone else affiliated with the campaign had contacts with Russia, as far as he knew. “I’m not aware of any of those activities,” he said, adding, “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.” Of course, a recent Washington Post report indicates otherwise, saying that Sessions had two conversations with the Russian ambassador in 2016, one in July and one in September.
Democrats are accusing Sessions of perjury, which is an ironic turning of the tables, considering Sessions’ own statements about President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.
In a 1999 CSPAN segment, Sessions discussed perjury as it pertained to President Clinton, who faced impeachment for lying under oath. Of course, the President was not removed from office, but Republicans went after him furiously, with Sessions among them. In the clip above, Sessions has some high and mighty words about the law applying to everyone. You can watch it in the player above, starting at the 9:40 mark.
“I am concerned about a President under oath, being alleged of committed [sic] perjury,” Sessions said. “In America, the Supreme Court and the American people believe no one is above the law,” Sessions declared, saying that this was a serious matter.
Pretty high and mighty stuff for a guy who would go on to give misleading statements of his own while under oath at a hearing. It’s easy to endorse a strict adherence to the law when someone else is the subject of an investigation. I wonder how he feels about it now that he’s on the other side of allegations.
In that same 1999 interview, Sessions later said about Clinton, “I don’t think we need to be pre-judging this matter.” At least hat’s one sentiment I imagine Sessions still holds today.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
