Jordan says Sessions should quit over leaks
Urbana Republican has been critical of FBI, Justice Dept.
Local Congressman WASHINGTON — Jim Jordan says Attorney General Jeff Sessions should resign because he can’t control leaks from the Department of Justice and the FBI.
In an op-ed column published in the Washington Examiner, Jordan, R-Urbana, and fellow House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said “it’s time for Jeff Sessions to go.”
Several recent news stories focusing on the investigation into Russian ties with the Trump campaign in 2016 have quoted anonymous Justice Department sources.
The Justice Department’s press office did not respond to a request for comment on the pair’s suggestion.
“Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from the Russia investigation, but it would appear he has no control at all of the premier law enforcement agency in the world,” Jordan and Meadows wrote. “It is time for Sessions to start managing in a spirit of transparency to bring all of this improper behavior to light and stop further violations.”
In a television interview last month, Jordan accused the FBI and Justice Department of plotting to keep Trump from becoming president and said the House Judiciary Committee is preparing to subpoena several of their officials who may have tried to discredit Trump.
Along with other conservative members of Congress, Jordan has also questioned the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her term as secretary of state, and ties between a Justice Department official and a dossier on Trump’s alleged ties to Russia that was partly paid for as opposition research by Clinton’s presidential campaign.
He also says there’s “no evidence of any collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians” despite “constant headlines” and “rampant speculation” that’s overshadowed Trump administration accomplishments such as last month’s tax overhaul, the stock market’s rise, and the decline of the Islamic State in the Middle East.
Jordan’s column attacked a New York Times article that suggested the FBI began investigating Trump’s campaign after one of its volunteers — George Papadoupolos — told an Australian diplomat the Russian government had stolen emails it intended to use to embarrass Hillary Clinton weeks before the emails were made public. Papadopoulos subsequently pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators about his contacts with Russians.
The column called the article “far-fetched and ill-supported,” and questioned the motivation of FBI and Justice Department officials who illegally leaked information to reporters.
“The alarming number of FBI agents and DO J officials sharing information with reporters is in clear violation of the investigative standards that Americans expect and should demand,” the column said.