Where Does Jeff Sessions Stand on Trump’s Voter Fraud Witch Hunt?

Just weeks after the presidential election, Donald Trump made a bald assertion on his Twitter account about the election’s results:
President Trump has continued these claims, saying last week he’ll ask for a “major investigation” into the issue, despite a mountain of evidence that disputes his claim. Trump’s allegation is part of a familiar — and stale — playbook. Like the Birtherism movement he led until just this past September (when he finally admitted Barack Obama was born in the United States, but wouldn’t apologize for his campaign to delegitimize him), he’s making a false assertion and then calling for an investigation. In doing so, he’s distracting focus from real issues.
Now that he’s president, Trump and his administration — and a Republican-led Congress — will be in charge of whatever investigations he requests. Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Justice, could be tapped to conduct this particular one. But Sessions’ record, as is well known by now, is notably appalling when it comes to voting integrity and protecting access to the ballot.
After all, where was Sessions when the Supreme Court eviscerated the Voting Rights Act in 2013, paving the way for restrictive voting laws in states with a history of discrimination? He was reportedly praising the decision, calling it “good news” for the South. The very same day, his own state of Alabama implemented a strict voter ID law that the Republican legislature passed two years earlier.
After the voter ID law’s implementation, where was Sessions when Alabama closed 31 DMVs in predominantly African-American counties, making it harder for minority voters to access required identification and exercise their most basic right? It took a year-long investigation by Obama’s Department of Transportation to correct the violation by taking action under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sessions could have spoken out, but never did.
And right now, after Trump’s bogus claim that we need a major investigation into a verified myth, where is Sessions? Where, specifically, does he stand on Trump’s assertion? Well, here’s what we know.
During his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month, Sen. Al Franken asked Sessions about Trump’s tweet claiming millions had voted illegally.
“I don’t know what the President-elect meant or was thinking when he made that comment or what facts he may have had to justify his statement,” Sessions said. “I would just say that every election needs to be managed closely and we need to ensure that there is integrity in it. And I do believe we regularly have fraudulent activities occur during elections cycles.”
Sessions may believe we “regularly” see voter fraud because of where he gets his information. Days before the election, Fox Business Network aired an edited clip of President Obama discussing Latino voter participation to make it sound like Obama was encouraging undocumented immigrants to vote. Sessions validated that misrepresentation, responding in a written statement and further spreading the idea that individuals were, in this case at Obama’s request, casting ballots unlawfully. Outlets like Breitbart News, the platform for the white nationalist ‘alt-right’ movement with whom Sessions has an uncomfortably cozy relationship, were all too happy to cover the story.
And we must not forget this: In 1985, Sessions unsuccessfully prosecuted three voting rights activists — including Albert Turner, Dr. King’s close aide — for voter fraud, who were simply working to increase African-American voter registration and turnout.
In theory, this shouldn’t matter. The Attorney General is the “people’s lawyer” who takes an oath to pursue justice for all Americans and stand up to Trump whenever necessary. That’s why Sessions must answer these questions before the Senate Judiciary Committee votes on his nomination:
Given his response to Sen. Franken during his confirmation hearing, we know he believes in the existence of fraudulent voting — but where does he stand on the assertion that there’s massive voter fraud? Does he truly believe that millions of illegal votes were responsible for Trump’s popular vote loss? If Trump asks him to investigate this so-called voter fraud, will Sessions do it — and what would his approach be? If he agrees with Trump or has no opinion on the matter, it is further proof he’s unfit to serve as Attorney General. But if he disagrees, he must stand up to the president and for the American people.
As I and many others have been saying for some time, the real voter fraud is rampant voting discrimination that Republican leaders in Congress refuse to examine. The invented claims that Trump continues to perpetuate are usually used to undermine the advancement and enforcement of voting rights laws — and in fact have served as the dishonest justification for discriminatory voting measures like strict voter ID.
Senate leadership owes it to the American people to dig deeper and investigate these issues — on Sessions’ support of Trump’s baseless fraud claims, on his commitment to fighting restrictive voting measures across the country — before handing over the keys to the Department of Justice. Trump wants a major investigation. On Sessions’ fitness to serve independently as Attorney General, so do we.






