Trump is right that Jeff Sessions is terrible, but not because of the Russia investigation

President Trump is right that Attorney General Jeff Sessions needs to go. Where the president gets lost is the reason why.

Trump is upset that his top law enforcement officer doesn’t dedicate more time to investigating former President Barack Obama administration officials, the Clinton Foundation, and basically anything connected to the Democratic Party. Most of all, Trump is angry that Sessions recused himself in March 2017 from the Russia investigation, and is thus not in a position to interfere with it.

The president has made no secret that he regrets nominating Sessions, who was one of the first U.S. senators to embrace Trump during the 2016 GOP primaries. But neither Sessions’ alleged refusal to go after the Clintons and other Democratic notables nor his recusal from the Russia investigation are reasons why he should be chucked headfirst from the Justice Department.

Sessions should be given the heave-ho because he is anti-liberty.

The current attorney general vigorously supports ballooning the federal government’s power and authority over the states, and all in the name of expanding the nation’s farcical war on drugs. In May 2017, for example, Sessions overturned a DOJ policy instructing prosecutors not to specify drug amounts when filing charges against low-level and nonviolent offenders. The idea was that this rule, which was handed down in 2013, would give judges the ability to sentence at their discretion. This way, small-time offenders could be given reasonable sentences, as opposed to the judge having no choice but to apply mandatory federal sentences, which can range from five years to life in prison.

This policy was apparently too lenient for Sessions, who explained at the time that, "We’re on a bad trend right now. We've got too much complacency about drugs. Too much talk about recreational drugs.”

Later, In January, Sessions announced he would roll back a policy limiting the federal government’s ability to prosecute marijuana users and distributors in states that have legalized cannabis. This was not only an attack on federalism, but setting federal agents on a crusade against marijuana is also a hilariously unrealistic use of the DOJ’s already limited time and resources. It’s not even good management.

Lastly, there’s Sessions' enthusiastic embrace of civil asset forfeiture, which is a clear violation of our Fourth Amendment right to be secure in our "persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." But reversing previous civil asset forfeiture restrictions so that law enforcement agencies can skirt state laws goes far beyond bad.

Trump is right when he says Sessions needs to go. The president is mistaken, however, to suggest the biggest problem with his AG is the Russia investigation.

Sessions is unfit for office because he operates as one who believes it's better to be safe than free, and that man exists to serve the law and not the other way around.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/trump-is-right-that-jeff-sessions-is-terrible-but-not-because-of-the-russia-investigation

Dems commend Trey Gowdy for breaking with Trump over 'spygate' claims

Congressional Democrats expressed their thanks to House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy after he said he believes the FBI acted appropriately when it worked with a confidential informant during its investigation into Russian meddling.

“I’m grateful that Congressman Gowdy, a Republican of South Carolina, stepped forward and made this important statement,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said during an interview Wednesday on CNN. “… In this matter, I think he’s stepping forward and putting to rest the baseless allegations by President Trump.”

Coons called President Trump's claims the FBI embedded a spy in his presidential campaign "baseless" and said they "undermine the United States around the world."

In addition to Coons, Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California praised Gowdy for his comments.

“Thank you Trey Gowdy for speaking the truth,” he tweeted.

Thank you Trey Gowdy for speaking the truth. https://t.co/s9sBqxNU8i

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) May 30, 2018

Gowdy broke with the president during a Tuesday evening interview with Fox News while discussing the FBI's confidential informant who met with three Trump campaign aides during the 2016 campaign.

The senior Republican lawmaker was one of nine Republican and Democratic members who last week were briefed by Justice Department and FBI officials about the use of the confidential source, later identified by media reports as academic Stefan Halper.

While the president has accused the bureau of spying on his campaign for political purposes — dubbing the controversy “spygate” — Gowdy said he doesn’t believe the FBI of acting improperly.

The South Carolina Republican told Fox News the president himself said he wanted the bureau to investigate whether any member of his campaign had ties to Russia.

https:/ /www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/dems-commend-trey-gowdy-for-breaking-with-trump-over-spygate-claims

Fed moves ahead on easing post-crisis 'Volcker Rule'

The Federal Reserve voted Wednesday to seek input on a proposal to simplify the Volcker Rule, a provision of the post-financial crisis reform law that blocked banks from trading on their own accounts.

The proposed alterations would tailor compliance based on the size of a firm's trading assets, benefiting smaller institutions; clarify that firms trading within internal risk limits are conducting permissible market-making or underwriting activity; and limit the rule's impact on foreign activities of foreign banks.

The Fed will accept comments for the next two months, a key step toward final adoption and implementation of the changes drafted by the industry's five government oversight agencies, which also include the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"The specific elements of this proposal are drawn from experience — the shared experience of all five responsible agencies and of policymakers at those agencies with wide and varied backgrounds during the four years that the Volcker Rule regulations have been in force," said Randal K. Quarles, the Fed's vice chairman for supervision.

The Volcker Rule was one provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, the government's signature effort to tighten restrictions on Wall Street in order to prevent a repeat of the 2008 crisis, when a bubble in the $15 trillion U.S. real estate market collapsed. That downturn imperiled banks with huge real-estate holdings and forced Washington to funnel hundreds of billions of dollars into bailouts to shore up the financial system even as many U.S. residents lost their homes and jobs.

Further changes to the Volcker Rule — named for Paul Volcker, the former Fed chairman who championed it — that were authorized under a financial regulation bill negotiated by Sen. Mike Crapo, the head of the chamber's Banking Committee, will be developed in a separate rule-making process, the Fed said.

The measure that advanced Wednesday "is broadly positive for the mega banks with large trading operations as well as for regional banks less involved with trading, as it should reduce trading costs and permit them to hold more inventory to facilitate trading," said Jaret Seiberg, an analyst with Cowen Washington Research Group.

"This is obviously a large and complicated proposal that lawyers will comb over for months as the banks offer up their suggestions for what works and what falls short in the plan."

David Hirschmann, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness, said his group looks forward to reviewing the proposal.

"We are pleased that regulators understand that the Volcker Rule is currently impeding important financing for American businesses," he added. Indeed, banks have long complained that the rule caused confusion over when they could hold securities legally, as part of the process of creating a market for clients with less-liquid notes, and when they would be deemed in violation of the Volcker Rule.

JPMorgan Chase, the largest U.S. lender by assets, and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

"We will review the proposal and continue to engage with policymakers to ensure the Volcker Rule is implemented efficiently," said Kevin Fromer, head of the Financial Services Forum. "Greater efficiency would allow our member institutions to comply with the intent of the legislation while allowing them to meet the needs of their clients."

>>1590413 You are correct.

>>1590440 I don't think Session will be going any where during this term, is it possible for Trump's second term, yes any thing is possible.

>>1590481 No need for me to try harder, as I didn't write this and didn't offer an opinion either, but if you are asking, I believe that if any of this were true, Sessions would have been gone long ago, all part of the movie. This just records the historical nature of our press, period.

>>1590569

Not sure what you are trying to point out here, can you expand please?

>>>1590512 I did and I agree with you, but recording this stuff here has meaning, for us to use in terms of showing the lies for what they are in side by side memes.

>>1590536

Then comes the PAIN, kek

>>1590607

Side by Side Memes are so appropriate for this purpose we can make them look so STUPID, kek

>>1590642

Damn, I'll get right on it, Kek

>>1590476

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/business/fed-moves-ahead-on-easing-post-crisis-volcker-rule

>>1590621

I think the comments that I attached with the 1st reply I sent you speak for themselves.

>>1590883

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet