 
President-elect
Trump rewarded Jeff Sessions' loyalty with a top spot in his cabinet -
but the Alabama senator has carried the specture of bigotry throughout
his career.
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Lawyer at center of Jeff Sessions racism controversy speaks out on Trump cabinet appointment President-elect Trump rewarded Jeff Sessions' loyalty with a top spot in his cabinet — but the Alabama senator has carried the specture of bigotry throughout his career.(Carolyn Kaster/AP)Civil rights attorney Gerry Hebert testified in 1986 that Sessions had repeatedly made racially insensitive remarks in his presence while a U.S. attorney in Alabama. In his view, Sessions' three-decade career since has only strengthened Hebert's belief that he shouldn't be handed the keys of America's top law enforcement vehicle. "Anybody who'd really put Jeff Sessions as head of the Justice Department with his record is not interested in uniting the country but dividing it further," Hebert told the Daily News Friday morning. "The record over time hasn't demonstrated to me a commitment to enforcing voting rights laws, civil rights laws, pursuing equality and justice in an evenhanded way. and when you're Attorney General you're the chief law enforcement officer in the U.S. and we have to have confidence the person at the top is someone who will." Hebert was a young attorney in the Justice Department's Civil Rights division when he worked on a pair of cases out of Mobile, Alabama in the early 1980s, where Sessions served as the regional U.S. Attorney. He said they had coffee together nearly every morning for weeks on end, during which Sessions repeatedly made racially insensitive remarks. Donald Trump offers Jeff Sessions Attorney General spot That included calling first amendment and civil rights groups like the NAACP and ACLU "un-American" and "communist-inspired" and complaining they "forced civil rights down the throats of people." When Hebert told him a story that a local judge had called a white civil rights attorney a "disgrace to his race," he said Sessions responded by saying "maybe he is." Sessions also unsuccessfully charged three civil rights workers who'd helped boost black voting registration in Alabama with voter fraud in the early 1980s. They were acquitted and he was accused of attempted voter intimidation by civil rights organizations. Hebert told the Daily News that Sessions had "demonstrated gross racial insensitivity" during that period - enough that his nomination was blocked in the Republican-controlled Senate more than three decades ago.  Gerald Hebert made headlines with his 1986 testimony against Sessions, whose federal judgeship bid was ultimately rejected.(HARRY CABLUCK/ASSOCIATED PRESS)Sen. Sessions praises Donald Trump’s Central Park 5 controversy Hebert has seen little evidence that Sessions has changed in the three intervening decades. "Let's look at some of the things since '86. I don't think he is fit to be attorney general and be in charge of the civil rights division," he said, saying Sessions had repeatedly claimed throughout his career that there was rampant voter fraud in spite of little evidence that has happened, pointing to his 2000 claim that the election had been rigged in Florida, his repeated questioning of then-DOJ Civil Rights Division nominee Tom Perez about undocumented immigrants being allowed to vote, and his criticism of the Voting Rights Act.  Trump tapping Sessions shows he is "not interested in uniting the country but dividing it further," Hebert says.(Mike Segar/REUTERS)But Hebert, who worked for decades in the Justice Department Sessions now hopes to lead, hopes they'll reconsider. "The role of the Attorney General is probably one of the most important roles in government. It reaches into peoples' lives across the board," He said. "I'd want o make sure the person I'm voting in favor of has not just talked about fairness, equality, even-handedness. I'd want to make sure they have a proven record of that in law enforcement. I don't believe Jeff Sessions does." |
Friday, November 18, 2016
New York Daily News Lawyer at center of Jeff Sessions racism controversy speaks out
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