If President Trump follows through on his call for an inquiry into unsubstantiated claims of massive voter fraud, the request would likely land on the desk of a man whose own history of pursuing such allegations continues to shadow his public record. Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, who is awaiting likely confirmation as Trump’s attorney general, was forced to defend himself earlier this month during Senate hearings on his nomination for the failed, racially charged prosecution of three black activists more than 30 years ago. In that case, Sessions, then the chief federal prosecutor in Mobile, Ala., charged Albert Turner Sr., his wife, Evelyn Turner, and Spencer Hogue with tampering with absentee ballots in a September 1984 primary election. All three were quickly acquitted in a case that raised the specter of voter intimidation and later helped sink Sessions’ previous bid for a federal judgeship.
Directly addressing those claims before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month, Sessions called the assertions “false.” The Turners’ son, Albert Turner Jr., ultimately issued an endorsement of nominee, but his surviving mother, Evelyn Turner, said Sessions’ nomination had only served to re-open a deep wound. “It feels like (the prosecution) is happening all over again,” she said in an interview earlier this month with USA TODAY.
If Sessions is ultimately confirmed, Trump’s claim may prove to be the first test of the senator’s pledge earlier this month to not be “a mere rubber-stamp to any idea the president has.”
“The office of the attorney general of the United States is not a political position, and anyone who holds it must have total fidelity to the laws and the constitution of the United States,” Sessions told the Senate panel. “He or she must be committed to following the law. He or she must be willing to tell the president ‘no’ if he overreaches.” Sessions has been unavailable for comment while his confirmation is pending.
Full Article: Trump voter fraud claims could fall to Jeff Sessions.