Americans need a scorecard to keep track of the changing versions of the collapsing cover story surrounding President Trump’s firing of the FBI director, who is leading the investigation of Russian attacks against American democracy.
At the same time, Americans had to witness the bizarre spectacle of the Russian foreign minister and the Russian ambassador to the U.S. beaming with pleasure after the firing of the FBI director, while meeting with the president in the White House on Thursday.
While this was occurring, a long and growing list of legal authorities were harshly criticizing Attorney General Jeff Sessions for advocating the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, which was widely compared to the firing of Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox by President Nixon.
{mosads}By aggressively calling for the firing of the lead investigator of alleged Russian cyber attacks on American elections, Sessions was widely accused of violating his pledge to recuse himself from Russia-related matters at the Department of Justice.
Throughout the brief tenure of Attorney General Sessions, the Department of Justice has been engulfed in chaos, with U.S. attorneys summarily dismissed throughout the nation without their replacements being named and confirmed — all while critically important investigations continue.
The absurdity of the situation surrounding the Russia scandal that increasingly appears to be a cancer on the Trump presidency was brilliantly described in the New Yorker by satirist Andy Borowitz, who wrote a piece titled, “Putin demands Session resign from Russian government.” Employing humor and satire, Borowitz made a hugely important point about Sessions and about the state of the Justice Department under Trump.
In Russia, during the regime of strongman Vladimir Putin, it is the job of prosecutors to prosecute whomever Putin considers enemies of the state (sound familiar?), and it is the job of his justice minister to provide the veneer of legality to whatever actions Putin takes, even when honest journalists or political opponents of the strongman suffer unfortunate fates.
In America, the post of Attorney General should be occupied by a fierce defender of the rule of law and a guarantor that the laws of the land be faithfully executed. This is a nation where no person is above the law, including the president of the United States. In Jeff Sessions, the Justice Department is led by an attorney general who acts more like the justice minister of Putin’s Russia, where justice becomes obedient to the will of the strongman.
The light of justice in America should never be darkened by an attorney general who acts like a partisan attorney and a campaign operative for a hyper-partisan president whose associates are under intense investigation for collusion or coordination with Russian agents waging cyberwar against America.
Under any president, our country needs an attorney general who puts the rule of law over the political interests of the president. In the long run, the presidents themselves are well-served by having an attorney general who gives them honest and sound advice that would help them avoid catastrophic mistakes.
This is particularly important under President Trump, who has a history of often walking close to legal lines and acting like a bully, even toward senior officials who advise him. It is an outrage against the rule of law — and a danger to President Trump and the nation — for his attorney general to be a partner or enabler of actions that are unsavory at best and illegal at worst.
It is a sad and dangerous day for America when an attorney general violates his pledge to recuse himself from Russian-related investigations that are vital to the rule of law and the protection of our security. It is an equally sad and dangerous day for America when an attorney general in the U.S. acts like a justice minister in Russia — defending actions that preserve the power of the strongman at the expense of the rule of law.
Attorney General Sessions should be removed from office and replaced by a successor who puts the rule of law first and believes that no person in our country, especially our president, is above the law.
Brent Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), then-chief deputy majority whip of the House. He holds an LL.M. in international financial law from the London School of Economics. He can be read on The Hill’s Contributors and reached at brentbbi@webtv.net.
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.