Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions late Friday afternoon announced that he too, just like former Attorney General Bill Barr, had no idea the Dept. of Justice was spying on at least two top House Democrats on the Intelligence Committee. The scandal has shaken both the DOJ and the general public so broadly the Inspector General – less than 24 hours after The New York Times bombshell dropped – announced a wide-ranging internal investigation.
The track records of both Barr and Sessions when it comes to telling the truth – even under oath – are questionable at best and subject to interpretation.
Are they setting former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein up to take the fall? Or was it Rosenstein all along? Or both – were they all in on spying on Democrats?
Many Americans will remember that Sessions lied under oath during his confirmation hearing:
Jeff Sessions lied under oath about meeting with Russian officials during the presidential campaignpic.twitter.com/zxVnV2Asdc— NowThis (@NowThis) 1488475561
And this famous video of then-Senator Kamala Harris, now Vice President Kamala Harris, grilling Barr to a crisp is legendary:
Flashback: May 2019\n\nHarris: Has the president or anyone at the WH ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone?\nBarr: Um.\n...\nHarris: Seems you'd remember something like that and be able to tell us.\nBarr: Yeah, but I'm trying to grapple with the word suggest.pic.twitter.com/y8ewAgVAgE— Kyle Griffin (@Kyle Griffin) 1623378319
This is what Trump was tweeting about the same month that Trump\u2019s DOJ subpoenaed Apple for metadata to spy on Rep. Schiff & other House Intel Democrats who Trump accused of \u201cleaking\u201d. It seems clear that Trump was directly involved in the DOJ\u2019s targeting of Schiff, which is huge.pic.twitter.com/mdEH6ame5p— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D) 1623387307
At the FBI, which the DOJ oversees, it's called "lack of candor" and it's a fireable offense. Unless you're the Attorney General and your boss is Donald Trump and you're helping him.
(Sessions was fired by Trump, not directly for this lie, but as a result of it: he was was forced to recuse himself from all things Russia, including protecting Trump, which led to Trump giving him the ax.)
Legal experts have said there is no way any investigation into a sitting member of Congress could have taken place – including, especially, with subpoenas of at least a dozen staffers, family members, and a minor child signing off on those warrants – unless a very top official or officials at DOJ approved the investigations.
On Friday both Barr and Sessions claimed they knew nothing about the investigations involving members of Congress, so, if Americans are to believe them, (and there's great reason to not,) presumably the only other person who conceivably could have approved the spying on top elected Democrats would be Rod Rosenstein.
Rosenstein is also the only top DOJ official who was there throughout the spying, which started in 2017 under Sessions, ended after nothing was found, and was started up again under Barr. And again, came up empty.
Speaking of lack of candor, Congressman Matt Gaetz, who is under DOJ investigation and has every reason to want to take a swipe at DOJ, would like you to believe Rosenstein is the one who OK'd the spying.
To all those \u201cshocked\u201d and \u201chorrified\u201d that Rod Rosenstein might spy on Schiff...\n\nHe was making these threats to BOTH sides, including congressional staff.\n\nThey don\u2019t treat their critics well at the DOJ.https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/392016-rosenstein-to-ask-house-to-investigate-committee-staff-report\u00a0\u2026— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@Rep. Matt Gaetz) 1623439849
So all we know is that we don't know, but hopefully the Inspector General will find out and let the American people know who approved spying on Democrats for political retribution.
