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Sessions Says Law ‘Absolutely’ Prohibits Waterboarding Jeff Sessions Says He Would Be Independent and Stand Up to Trump
(about 3 hours later)
WASHINGTON — Senator Jeff Sessions, who is in line to become attorney general, said Tuesday that the law “absolutely” prohibits waterboarding and offered no hints at any legal workaround that would allow President-elect Donald J. Trump to bring back the brutal interrogation tactic. WASHINGTON — Senator Jeff Sessions, one of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s earliest supporters, told Congress on Tuesday that he would be an independent-minded attorney general who would stand up to the president. He promised to aggressively enforce the nation’s laws — even in areas where he has disagreed, like torture, abortion, gay rights, surveillance and hate crimes.
Mr. Sessions, a Republican from Alabama and one of Mr. Trump’s earliest supporters, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he would be an independent-minded attorney general who would say no to Mr. Trump. He said he did not support an outright ban on Muslim immigration and promised to defend the nation’s laws — even in areas like abortion and gay rights where he has made his opposition known over a long, conservative career. Mr. Sessions, a deeply conservative Republican from Alabama, appeared headed for confirmation. Even the most liberal Democrats spared him any vitriol and declined to vigorously confront him on allegations of racism from three decades ago. Unable to prevent his confirmation without Republican help, they opted to use the hearings to try to establish the early legal boundaries of a Trump administration.
Senate Democrats do not have the votes, by themselves, to block Mr. Sessions’s confirmation, and they did little in the hearing on Tuesday to try. They did not vigorously confront Mr. Sessions on allegations of racism from three decades ago. Instead, they opted to use the hearings to try to establish the early legal boundaries of a Trump administration. “The law has been passed, the Congress has spoken, and you can be sure I will enforce it,” Mr. Sessions said when asked about a law, which he opposed, that makes it a hate crime to attack people because of their sexual orientation. He promised to defend access to abortion clinics, despite his opposition to abortion.
Mr. Sessions offered no support for banning Muslim immigration, as Mr. Trump frequently suggested during the presidential campaign. “I have no belief and do not support the idea that Muslims as a religious group should be denied admission to the United States,” Mr. Sessions said. But he noted that Mr. Trump has since clarified that restriction should be placed on immigration from countries that support terrorism, which Mr. Sessions said was lawful. And he dealt a significant blow to Mr. Trump’s campaign promise to once again authorize the C.I.A. to waterboard terrorism suspects. Mr. Sessions has for years supported waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics, but he said on Tuesday that today’s laws “absolutely” prohibit waterboarding. He offered no hints at any legal workaround for Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump also has promised to bring back waterboarding, an interrogation tactic that the C.I.A. used against suspected terrorists in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. As a senator, Mr. Sessions supported the legal analysis that authorized waterboarding and said that “it worked” in extracting information. Mr. Sessions also said he would recuse himself from any lingering investigations involving Hillary Clinton or her family’s foundation. During Mr. Trump’s campaign, “lock her up” was a Republican rallying cry. Mr. Sessions previously supported appointing a special prosecutor to investigate her. The F.B.I.’s investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email server is closed. And while a preliminary investigation into the Clinton Foundation is open, senior career officials at the F.B.I. and Justice Department have said there is little basis for the case to move forward.
Federal law bans waterboarding, but Mr. Trump’s comments have raised questions about whether he will try to find a way to sidestep that law. One option would be to declare the law an unconstitutional intrusion on the president’s authority as commander-in-chief. Mr. Sessions did not address that on Tuesday, but said waterboarding was “absolutely improper and illegal.” Those remarks provide a steep new legal hurdle that would make it extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible, for a Trump administration to reinstate it. In his two decades on Capitol Hill, Mr. Sessions has been a forceful voice from the far right of his party. He has questioned whether the Constitution guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the United States, has said courts have interpreted the separation of church and state too broadly and has declared same-sex marriage a threat to American culture. He also voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act.
Mr. Sessions spent much of the hearing drawing distinctions between holding those views as a senator and carrying out the duties of the attorney general. “I will follow the law,” he said again and again.
He said he did not support an outright ban on Muslim immigration, as Mr. Trump frequently suggested during the presidential campaign. “I have no belief and do not support the idea that Muslims as a religious group should be denied admission to the United States,” Mr. Sessions said. But he noted that Mr. Trump has since clarified that restrictions should be placed on immigration from countries that support terrorism, which Mr. Sessions said was lawful.
At times, Mr. Sessions offered more moderate versions of the strident views he held as a senator. A former United States attorney who came of age in the Justice Department during the height of the crack epidemic, Mr. Sessions has been unabashed drug warrior. He has for years accused the Obama administration of going soft on marijuana. But on Tuesday he sidestepped the question of whether he would pit the Justice Department against states like Colorado that have legalized marijuana. “I know it won’t be an easy decision,” he said.