From Boom to Bust in 23 Hours
Jeff Sessions’ Russian Revelations Rain on Donald Trump’s Primetime Performance.
Twenty three hours. That’s all the time it took for Donald Trump’s Joint Session high to devolve into a political trip from hell. And like all bad trips, suppressed memories were to blame for sending a previously benevolent mental illusion spiraling into the political equivalent of an apocalyptic nightmare.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions became just the latest Trump confidant and appointee to be entangled in allegations of inappropriate contact with Russian officials. This is coming after The Washington Post published an article Wednesday evening, revealing Sessions failed to disclose two meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak during Senate confirmation hearings.
To no one’s surprise, the Trump camp had a perfectly reasonable explanation for the latest round of back-alley conversations yet another member of the administration apparently had with the Russian ambassador. At the time of the meetings, now Attorney General Jeff Sessions was then Senator Jeff Sessions, member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The committee has jurisdiction over the development of weapons systems, defense policy, and national security aspects of the country’s nuclear energy program among other things — which effectively provided Senator Sessions with ample, justifiable reason to speak with Ambassador Kislyak.
Plausible deniability. It is a beautiful thing when it stands alone, but when it sits within an ever-expanding, murky cloud of corruption, its efficacy fades faster than Lebron James’ hairline.
A sitting member of the Senate Armed Services Committee has every reason in the world to speak with a foreign ambassador. That is undoubtably true. It is also true that no other member of the committee, who was successfully reached for comment by the Washington Post, besides Sessions spoke with the Russian ambassador last year.
Of the 20 lawmakers who responded, every senator, including Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), said they did not meet with the Russian ambassador last year. The other lawmakers on the panel did not respond as of Wednesday evening.
Also true: Sessions should have had no reason to lie about his interactions, and he was given the opportunity to amend his statements following his testimony.
The latest installment of the made for TV drama that is the Trump presidency is coming just weeks after then acting National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was forced to resign because of his premature talks with the very same Sergei Kislyak.
Quite simply, it is becoming clearer by the day that there was an orchestrated attempt to collude with Russian officials during the election on some scale.
So clear, that demands for Session’s immediate recusal from any investigation relating to Donald Trump’s election poured in from not only Democrats, but respected Republicans as well.
The calls were answered by Sessions Thursday afternoon, but not before putting his own spin on the decision.
“During the course of the last several weeks I have met with the relevant the relevant senior career department officials to discuss whether I should recuse myself from any matters arising from the campaigns for President of the United States,” he said in a statement. “Having concluded those meetings today, I have decided to recuse myself from any existing or future investigations of any matters related in any way to the campaigns for President of the United States.”
None of this guarantees that an independent investigation will indeed take place. It is now on the shoulders of Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente to actually appoint an independent prosecutor, but that is unlikely given he holds the position on an interim basis. The responsibility will likely fall to U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein, who is expected to replace Boente next week after he is confirmed.
Wading into Conspiratorial Waters
Nominating Sessions to be Attorney General was never the most sound political move. Legitimate questions were raised about his racial predispositions and his stance on LGBQT issues, both highly relevant topics today — especially considering Trump’s hesitance to embrace conservative culture wars.
To dig deeper, you have to go back to Session’s original endorsement of candidate Donald Trump back in February of 2016. It was lauded as being the first endorsement from a Tea Party friendly member of Congress, which helped to drum up grassroots support, but it came days after the endorsement from another high profile Republican, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Chris Christie isn’t exactly a polished politician, but he was one hell of a U.S. Attorney. His claim to fame? Rooting out public corruption, a skill one would think would be invaluable in “draining the swamp”.
Why was he passed over, then?
Both men carried political risks. Christie, like Sessions, was a close ally of the campaign throughout the election, and he even headed up the White House transition team for months. He was ousted from his position soon after the election, though, amid Bridgegate developments and rumors that Jared Kushner took issue with Christie’s prosecution of his father.
The biggest difference, however, was that Christie had no reason or excuse to meet with Russian officials and was thereby a significantly less valuable resource for then candidate Trump. Christie's future options were still limited, so it was likely he was along for the ride regardless.
Sessions, comparatively, was an easier target with with the right amount of pull in the right places. At 70 years old, his future political aspirations were limited, and he presumably still has a chip on his shoulder from his denied nomination to be a U.S. District Judge in 1986.
We know how Donald Trump likes to wheel and deal, and we are aware he told John Kasich he could be “the most powerful VP in history”. Would it really be a surprise, then, to think that he told Sessions he could be the most powerful law enforcement officer in the country if he simply had what he would have perceived as a few mundane, justifiable conversations with the Russian ambassador?
I don’t believe Sessions was a mastermind of anything. I do believe he was a pawn used by someone behind Trump’s opaque power structure, knowing his position in the Senate would insulate them from deeper allegations while still allowing them to open up another communication channel with their Russian counterparts.
If Trump does have to part ways with his southern scapegoat, Chris Christie is still looking for any way possible to get out of New Jersey.
