Sen. Chris Coons calls for hearing into possible Trump interference with US attorneys
In a letter, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) also cites concern over the resignation of Acting Assistant Attorney General Dana Boente.
(CNN)Democratic
Sen. Chris Coons is calling for a hearing into possible presidential
interference with US attorneys' offices after reports last month that
President Donald Trump personally interviewed candidates for positions
with oversight in districts sensitive to his business dealings.
In
a letter dated last week, Coons wrote to Senate Judiciary Chairman
Chuck Grassley requesting the hearing "based on a series of events that
leave me concerned that President Trump does not respect the important
boundaries between politics and the prosecutorial decisions of US
Attorneys within the Department of Justice."
CNN reported in October that Trump had met with at least three candidates
for US attorney positions in New York and Washington, DC, cities that
host many of the President's private companies and where investigations
into the administration, including the potential collusion between the
Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election, could play out.
Coons
in the letter also cites concern over the resignation of former US
Attorney and Acting Assistant Attorney General Dana Boente, who left
office late last month.
Coons
questions the "sudden nature" of the resignation, and a reported
connection between the US attorney's office for the eastern district of
Virginia, which Boente oversaw, and the FBI's Russian election
interference investigation. Coons writes that a request for additional
information on the resignation sent to the Justice Department had not
yet elicited a response.
Boente,
a career prosecutor who helmed the US attorney's office while filling
multiple interim roles in the early months of the Trump DOJ, had been
planning the retirement for some time, sources told CNN last month.
A
second committee Democrat has floated consequences for the alleged US
attorney interference. Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal said last
month that he had talked to fellow senators about potentially blocking
any nominees who had been interviewed by the President.
Appearing
before the Senate Judiciary Committee in October, Attorney General Jeff
Sessions appeared to confirm assertions that Trump was involved
personally in candidate interviews, saying "yes, we've done quite a
number," though he later backtracked, adding, "I'm not sure I remember
whether he had interviewed for New York but if you say so I assume so,
and he has the right to for sure because he has to make an appointment
and I assume everybody would understand that."
A spokesman for the Senate Judiciary Committee did not respond to a request for comment on Coons' letter late Monday evening.
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