Sessions targets leaks as Russia focus intensifies
Trump goes on offensive after grand jury news
U. S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he’s stepping up efforts to investigate and prosecute leaks of classified information with help from a new counterintelligence unit at the FBI, working to address a top concern of President Donald Trump.
“We are taking a stand,” Sessions said Friday at a news conference alongside Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats. “This culture of leaking must stop.”
White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said Thursday that the con- tinuing leaks are “damaging to our national security and it’s something we take very seriously.”
Sessions, who received assurances about his job security from the White House over the weekend, has previously pledged to crack down on leaks, especially after sensitive information about a terrorist attack in Manchester, England leaked to U. S. news media outlets in May.
The attorney general didn’t unveil any new, specific actions the Trump administration is taking, and he declined to take questions after the announcement. Rather, Sessions said “the department is reviewing policies that impact leak investigations,” including reviewing policies on subpoenaing media outlets that publish stories based on leaks.
“We respect the important role that the press plays and will give them respect, but it is not unlimited,” Ses- sions, 70, said. “They cannot place lives at risk with impunity.”
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said the department will look at how to conduct media subpoenas “more expeditiously,” adding that current law imposes procedural hurdles.
Bolstering the complaint by Trump and his close aides that Washington insiders are determined to undermine him, Sessions said the Justice Department has received about as many criminal referrals regarding leaks in the first six months of this year as in the previous three years combined. Since January, the number of active leak investigations at the department has tripled, he added.
Sessions emphasized that he’s in accord with Trump. “I strongly agree with the president and condemn in the strongest terms the staggering number of leaks undermining the ability of our government to protect this country,” he said.
The president in recent weeks had called Sessions “weak” for recusing himself from the federal criminal investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and whether the president or any of his associates colluded with Moscow. He also said Sessions had taken “a VERY weak position” on “Hillary Clinton crimes” and “Intel leakers!”
Trump’s criticism was seen by some as a move to eventually put someone in charge at the Justice Department who would fire Robert Mueller from his post as special counsel leading the Russia investigation. However, new White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told Sessions in a phone call last weekend that his position is safe.
As Mueller’s investigation into his campaign accelerates, Trump and his allies are trying to rally his political base with warnings that any outcome other than vindication will be an attempt to thwart the will of voters.
“They’re trying to cheat you out of the leadership that you won with a fake story that is demeaning to all of us and most importantly demeaning to our country and demeaning to our Constitution,” Trump told a cheering crowd in Huntington, W.Va., Thursday night. “I just hope the final determination is a truly honest one.”
He followed up Friday morning on his Twitter account by highlighting a cable news commentator predicting a national “uprising” if a member of Trump’s family is indicted.
Trump is going on the offensive in seeking to cast the investigation into Russian meddling in last year’s campaign in political terms following revelations that Mueller is using a federal grand jury in Washington to help collect information on Russia’s interference and possible collusion by Trump associates.
The president has reached out to his political base in recent weeks as his legislative agenda has stalled in the Republicancontrolled Congress and the White House has been wracked by turmoil and turnover.
His approval numbers have fallen below 40 per cent in five recent polls that also show some erosion of his support from all but the most loyal Republicans.
Two speakers at Thursday night’s rally also embraced Trump’s theme that the idea of Russia having helped his campaign is a “fabrication” being pushed by his critics and should be dismissed. Trump’s daughter- in- law Lara Trump told the crowd it is a “crazy story.”
“The same people who gave us fake polls the entire election, those are the people pushing that story, so keep that in mind,” Lara Trump said as she kicked off the event.
At Thursday night’s rally, Trump put the investigation into personal terms for his voters.
“Most people know there were no Russians in our campaign,” Trump said. “We didn’t win because of Russia, we won because of you.”
WE RESPECT THE IMPORTANT ROLE THAT THE PRESS PLAYS AND WILL GIVE THEM RESPECT, BUT IT IS NOT UNLIMITED. — JEFF SESSIONS, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL