Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi — both renowned, of course, for their judicious and carefully non-partisan approach to matters in Washington — have now called for Jeff Sessions not only to recuse himself from any investigations of Russian meddling in the recent national election but to resign as Attorney General.
Absolutely shocking, right?
Well, sit down and prepare yourself for further shock: There seems to be little merit in the allegations against Mr. Sessions on this issue.
“The Perjury Allegation against Jeff Sessions Is Meritless”
I think that there’s plenty of reason to be concerned about allegations of Russian attempts to influence the presidential election — and, hence, to investigate them. Russia also seems to be attempting to influence political outcomes elsewhere, by means of genuine “fake news” and other methods, particularly in eastern Europe. Mr. Putin’s regime is evidently seeking to unravel NATO and the European Union, among other things, as well as to regain its former colonies. And there’s plenty of reason to worry about too cozy relationships between elements of the Trump campaign and Russia, and about Mr. Trump’s weird bromance with Vladimir Putin. (For a summary, see this piece, from way back in mid-August of last year.)
This subject bears careful watching.
But Jeff Sessions, despite his obvious and grievous sin of being an early Trump supporter, has never, to the best of my knowledge, been seen as a friend of Russia’s Thug Number One nor, unlike a shocking number of contemporary Trumpist voices, as a seeming apologist for post-Soviet Russia. The current accusations against him seem implausible on their face. and they continue to be implausible — and sometimes borderline hysterical — upon examination.
This seems to me a partisan witch hunt.
Yes, it’s appropriate that Mr. Sessions recuse himself. But no, there’s nothing to even remotely justify calls for his resignation. Under the rules of the Constitution of the United States of America, for better or for worse, Mr. Donald J. Trump won the presidency. What’s going on right now sometimes has the appearance of a piecemeal coup attempt, an illegitimate effort to undo November’s electoral results.
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