There a bunch of stories swirling around Jeff Sessions lately, all of which raise a giant question: Was Jeff Sessions blackmailed by Russia after becoming Attorney General?
Take a look at these 4 big facts (emphasis in quotes added):
1) On January 10th, Jeff Sessions lied to Congress during his confirmation hearing. Under oath. The Russians knew he lied — he had met with Russian Spymaster Kislyak twice that we know of.
At his Jan. 10 Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Sessions was asked by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) what he would do if he learned of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the 2016 campaign.
“I’m not aware of any of those activities,” he responded. He added: “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.”
2) When Sessions submitted his SF-86, Sessions claimed he had no meetings with foreign nationals in the last 7 years. He affirmed this under penalty of perjury, subject to up to 5 years in prison for lying.
On Thursday morning, the DOJ finally made an attempt to comply with the court order by disclosing a single page document that is almost totally redacted. The one exception is a box checked ‘No,’ indicating Sessions has not had contact with a foreign government in the last seven years.
3) On Friday, March 10th, just a few weeks after being sworn in, Sessions’ Justice Department fired US Attorney Preet Bahara, who was close to going to trial with a major prosecution of Putin-connected Russian money-laundering via NY real estate.
Interestingly, the case Bahara was pursuing when fired was uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky — the accountant who’s death at the hands of Russians spurred a sanctions bill that the Trump family now claims was at the center of their campaign heads' previously undisclosed meeting with a Russian attorney.
U.S. authorities said the elaborate tax fraud and money laundering allegations were first uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky, Russian accountant for investment firm Hermitage Capital.
After accusing Russian officials of the $230 million tax fraud, he was arrested on tax evasion charges and died in prison a year later, prosecutors said.
4) On May 13th, barely two months after firing the US Attorney prosecuting that case, Sessions’ Justice Department shockingly settles the Russian money-laundering case for just $6 million. The case was a $230 million money-laundering case, so the settlement Sessions’ Department approved
Federal prosecutors in New York announced late Friday the surprise settlement between the U.S. government and Russian businessman Denis Katsyv, the owner of Prevezon Holdings, as both sides were preparing to bring the three-year case to trial next week.
...The settlement comes after Prevezon was hit with key setbacks last week: U.S. District Judge William Pauley denied a summary judgment motion by the defense and granted a government motion to admit evidence from a Russian criminal case.
5) Beyond simply the ridiculously low $6 million settlement, few have pointed out that part of the settlement was for Sessions’ Justice Department to officially state that none of the defendants had a role in Magnitsky’s death, setting the stage for repeal of the sanctions imposed by the Magnitsky Act, which the Trump family admits was the Russian government lawyers’ main ask of them.
In the settlement agreement, prosecutors stated that none of the defendants had a role in the death of Magnitsky.
So here's my question: If Jeff Sessions perjured himself before Congress and in his Security Clearance application — and the Russians knew it the whole time — did they blackmail him into settling this case and helping set the stage for Magnitsky Act sanctions repeal?
If not, then why did Sessions’ justice department settle that case on such favorable Russian terms, just a week after the Russians had a major setback in court?
I think Mueller better get to the bottom of why Sessions took such favorable actions toward Russia at a time when Russia had blackmail evidence of crimes committed by Sessions, crimes he was actively trying to conceal.