For Jeff Sessions, Help From a Far-Left Crackpot If He’ll Take It

Jeff Sessions, Attorney General and leader of the Department of Justice, has suffered a lot of criticism, more from President Trump and Republicans than from Democrats. They are disappointed because he has recused himself and has been silent and passive regarding investigation of several urgent, high-profile matters including:

• Subversive Russian propaganda pumped through social media during the 2016 election campaign;
• Alleged Trump campaign collusion with the Russians;
• Russia’s alleged role in the theft of Hillary Clinton’s personal and Campaign emails and their publication on Wikileaks;
• The apparently corrupt FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server to illegally transmit and store classified materials while Secretary of State;
  
• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s alleged favors to foreign governments and corporations in return for donations to the Clinton Foundation and lavish speaking fees paid to Bill Clinton.
  
• Alleged misconduct by FBI and Obama Administration officials in secret surveillance of, and leaking about Trump, his family and his campaign staff.
• Apparent deceptions by the FBI in its requests to the secret FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) Court for warrants to conduct secret, electronic surveillance of an American citizen who had briefly served as a volunteer advisor to the Trump campaign.
  

The last one about the FISA court is a current, boiling hot controversy that demands substantive action, not the usual Washington response, internment in an eternal investigation that eventually fades away.

Sessions announced last week he had assigned the FISA matter, which House and Senate committees have been investigating for as much as a year, to the Department of Justice Inspector General to… of course… “open and investigation.”  Trump reacted by tweeting his disgust with Sessions for once again being passive, out of the loop and failing to take immediate action. 

The usual Washington chorus of media and politicians from both parties sang in unison their disagreement with Trump and their praise of all Inspector Generals, and especially this particular IG. Trump, they say, does not understand that an IG investigation will be better than direct action on the part of the Attorney General. Color us suspicious and skeptical when all sides agree, but cautiously hopeful and willing to believe them if the IG produces actionable results.

But just as Sessions was ducking Presidential arrows, a most serendipitous opportunity to prove he still has a spine arose from, of all places, California.  A controversy has bubbled up from the fever swamp of the loony Left.  It’s a controversy that screams for immediate, purposeful action.  And, it has no connection to any of the matters Sessions has recused himself out of.

On Saturday, 2/24 Mayor Libby Schaaf of Oakland, CA issued a press release, also published on Twitter, warning local, criminal, illegal aliens of imminent raids to be conducted by ICE, to capture and deport them.  Her press release began:

Earlier today, I learned from multiple credible sources that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is preparing to conduct an operation in the Bay Area, including Oakland, starting as soon as within the next 24 hours.

The press release continues with the usual far-left claptrap.  She attempts to deceive us by re-branding illegal aliens who have committed felonies as “our residents” and “our families.” She offers nonsense appeals to emotion to justify issuing this warning to protect felons from law enforcement, instead of helping ICE catch and deport them to protect Oakland’s citizens from crime.

ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan announced that Mayor Schaaf’s warning helped hundreds of targets of this operation to evade capture.  He has turned the matter over to the Justice Department for possible prosecution.  The White House also announced that Justice was considering prosecution.

Thus, Mayor Schaaf has provided Jeff Sessions who is in charge of the Department of Justice a chance to restore a bit of lost credibility and public confidence in his leadership.  He can demonstrate that he is not passive, detached, and unable to get anything done.

It appears to us here at Liberty Works that Mayor Schaaf may have violated federal law, 18 U.S. Code § 1505 – Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees.  There may be other potential violations of law.

Of course, it’s up to Sessions and his staff attornies to study the law and case law precedents and decide if they could get a conviction in a jury trial.  But, that decision can’t possibly take more than a week. This is the simplest of cases.  She admits, indeed she publicly boasts of publishing the warning to criminal illegal aliens. Thus, there would be no denial to overcome in court.  The only question for a jury to decide would be, did her actions violate the law as written?  If yes, she’s guilty.  The whole trial would be over in a day.

By early next week Attorney General Sessions can appear before the cameras and make a public statement.  First, condemn her actions as reckless, exposing ICE officers, innocent bystanders and even the criminal aliens to unnecessary risks of violence, just to give voice to her far left dogma. Then, either explain why she will be indicted or explain that why her actions, while inexcusable, did not violate an existing federal law.

This is high profile but simple controversy.  Either she broke the a law that is on the books or she didn’t. There is no possible justification for delaying for months or years a decision as to whether or not to charge her with a crime.  There is no justification for Sessions to recuse himself or to assign the matter to someone else for yet another ponderous, convoluted investigation. 

Sessions should do his duty: step up, take charge, make a decision and explain that decision, on camera, to the American people.

Mr. Attorney General, this is your opportunity for redemption.  We respectfully urge you not to let it slip away.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1041431/download