Washington politicians oppose Trump AG appointee Jeff Sessions

President-elect Donald Trump’s appointees have begun drawing heavy criticism from Washington state’s politicians — many surrounding racist allegations. Most recently Trump’s choice for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions, has caused local concern.

“With the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions as the 84th Attorney General for the United States, President-elect Donald Trump has selected a documented racist to be a member of his cabinet,” said Representative Adam Smith of Washington state.

“Senator Sessions has a long history of disturbing racism,” Smith added.

Mayor Ed Murray says Seattle will remain a sanctuary city under Trump administration

Smith cites claims about Sessions that have followed the senator since the 1980s. The senate voted against appointing Sessions as a federal judge, citing many allegations of racism. Testimony from that time, which has now become widely reported as evidence of Session’s racism, include allegations that he often used the N-word, and said that he thought the KKK was OK until he learned that some of them smoked marijuana. Also, that he has called the NAACP “un-American,” and “Communist inspired.” Another allegation is that Sessions referred to a black assistant US attorney as “boy.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center has also said Sessions has been guilty of hate speech. Others, however, including Sessions himself, have repeatedly refuted the racist allegations over the years.

Seattle and Jeff Sessions

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray also released a statement in opposition to Sessions’ appointment. Murray’s focus, as it has been since Trump’s election, is on immigration policies and Seattle’s status as a sanctuary city.

Senator Sessions has been the leading anti-immigrant senator for nearly two decades. He has repeatedly fought any type of immigration reform, pushed to build a fence on the southern border, and proposed legislation threatening cities with federal funding cuts for supporting unauthorized immigrants. President-elect Trump’s choice underscores the need for cities like Seattle to stand up for our values of inclusiveness and compassion.

Regardless of who ultimately heads the Department of Justice, the City of Seattle and the Seattle Police Department will continue the important work of accountability reform in our police department under the Consent Decree and of strengthening the relationship between the community and police. Seattle has become a national leader in Constitutional and bias-free policing over the last four years and I look forward to transmitting our reform legislation to Council in the coming weeks.

To Heck with Bannon

Sen. Jeff Sessions is not the first Trump appointee to receive heavy criticism related to racist controversies. Members of the US House of Representatives, including Washington’s Denny Heck, have asked Trump to reverse his decision to appoint Steve Bannon as chief White House strategist.

Citing Bannon’s controversial background, 169 members of the US House of Representatives signed a letter asking that Trump take back that appointment.

Heck represents the 10th Congressional District in Washington state. He and all the signers of the letters are Democrats.

The main concern is that Bannon heads up Breitbart News, which has ties to the alt-right — a right-leaning political group that promotes White Nationalism and other racist ideals.

“The organization which he led has said such things as the alt-Right … is a smarter version of old-school racist skinheads,” Heck said. “They have said the Confederate flag proclaims a glorious heritage and other assertions that I think divide us and hurt us. And I think Mr. Trump has a good opportunity here to reverse course and send a strong signal to people that he will have a presidency of inclusion.”

The letter Heck, and fellow Democrats, signed states:

Immediately following your victory, many Americans were optimistic and hopeful that you would take steps necessary to unify our country following the divisive and contentious election … Unfortunately, your appointment of Stephen Bannon, whose ties to the White Nationalist movement have been well-documented, directly undermines your ability to unite the country. As elected representative of millions of Americans from diverse backgrounds, religions an ethnicities, we strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to appoint Mr. Bannon to White House Chief Strategist.

The letter continues to note that under Bannon’s leadership at Breitbart News, the online publication promoted anti-Semitism, xenophobia and racism. It also states that Bannon has publicly said that his news organization is a platform for the alt-right. It references Breitbart posts that called a Republican opposing Trump a “renegade Jew,” and other Breitbart articles that called the organization a “smarter version of old-school racist skinheads.”

Further, the letter points out that KKK and American Nazi Party officials have praised Breitbart, while the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center oppose Bannon’s appointment.

Though it seems obvious that Bannon is a controversial choice for Trump to appoint, Heck doesn’t think the president-elect will reverse his decision.

“I don’t hold out a lot of hope he will do that,” Heck said. “But I invite my friends and everyone else to encourage him to do so. It would be the right thing to do.”

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