What Does Jeff Sessions Know About Trump-Russia Ties?
The trouble with the opposition is that its messaging against Trump is ambiguous and protests are limited to Twitter and TV shows.
By Rakesh Raman
The U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who had canvassed in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign last year, is believed to be the man who can divulge some incriminating information about Trump’s ties with the enemy nation Russia.
Jeff Sessions, who had told lies (in Trump terminology, alternative facts) in his Senate confirmation hearing about his contact with Russian officials during the campaign season, is under a severe pressure from the Democrats, some Republicans, and the media to speak the truth.
Under attacks from the opposition, Sessions said Thursday he would stay away from any probe that is trying to unearth Russia’s interference in the November election and Trump’s allegedly illegitimate relations with Russia.
However, despite his clandestine tryst with the Russian ambassador, Sessions believes he is an honest man. Same sentiment is expressed by Trump who said today that his friend Sessions is an honest man.
Jeff Sessions is an honest man. He did not say anything wrong. He could have stated his response more accurately, but it was clearly not….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2017
Obviously, Trump is trying to protect Sessions with the fear that if he is properly probed, Trump’s own shady deals will Russia will get exposed.
As Trump is desperately trying to hide something that can put his presidency in jeopardy, he has randomly blamed Democrats and the leakers in his administration for the disturbing revelation about Jeff Sessions.
Although top democrats have been clamouring for an independent investigation, their voice is not being heard.
For example, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said Thursday that a special prosecutor should hold a real, bipartisan, transparent Congressional investigation into Russia. She also said that Russia has compromising info about Trump.
We need a special prosecutor totally independent of the AG. We need a real, bipartisan, transparent Congressional investigation into Russia.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 2, 2017
Similarly, the Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has demanded that Russian grip on Trump must be exposed. But Democrats have not yet specified what they want to achieve with their verbal protests.
It is highly unlikely that the opposition demands will deter Trump who is expected to complete his four-year term. And before the 2020 presidential election, he will again start telling plethora of lies to woo the voters and win again.
The trouble with the opposition is that its messaging against Trump is ambiguous and protests are limited to Twitter and TV shows. Trump’s opponents – Democrats as well as Republicans – have failed to offer even a single legal or constitutional argument by which Trump could be held accountable.
They also have failed to get a thorough investigation in the cases of Trump’s team members such as Jeff Sessions and Trump’s National Security Adviser Michael Flynn who had to resign for his talks with top Russian officials.
All these opposition protests will go futile in the absence of an end-to-end strategy to find out the truth about Russian interference in the election and the extent of secret support that Trump enjoyed from Russia to win the election.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a government’s National award-winning journalist and runs free school for deserving children under his NGO – RMN Foundation.
