Flashback of the Day
January 31, 2017 By Taegan Goddard
At her 2015
confirmation hearing, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), President Trumps nominee for attorney general, asked Sally Yates, the acting attorney general Trump
fired last night, an interesting question:
Sessions: Do you think the attorney general has the responsibility to say no to the president if he asks for something thats improper? A lot of people have defended the Loretta Lynch nomination, for example, by saying: Well, he appoints somebody whos going to execute his views. Whats wrong with that? But if the views the president wants to execute are unlawful, should the attorney general or the deputy attorney general say no?
Yates: Senator, I believe that the attorney general or the deputy attorney general has the obligation to follow the law and the Constitution, and to give their independent legal advice to the president.
The exchange starts at about 1:15
in the video.
First Read: The question Democrats are asking today: Can someone like Sessions who played such a big role in Trumps campaign and whose top staff now work for Trump show that same kind of independence at the Justice Department?
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https://politicalwire.com/2017/01/31/flashback-of-the-day-29/