By Chip Brownlee
The Alabama Political Reporter
A petition launched online to remove Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) from the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary has reached more than 30,000 signatures, following controversial remarks from the senator on Republican Nominee Donald Trump.
At least 32,000 people have signed the petition on UltraViolet.org, according to website administrators. The petition was put online following Session’s refusal to dub Trump’s hot-mic comments, which were published over the weekend by The Washington Post, as sexual assault.
The petition says Sessions shouldn’t be able to define “laws governing sexual assault” if he “can’t define sexual assault.”
In the hot-mic tape, Trump brags about groping and kissing women without their permission.
Following Sunday night’s Second Presidential Debate — in which CNN’s Anderson Cooper confronted Trump about his comments back in 2005 on Access Hollywood — Sessions told the Weekly Standard: “I don’t characterize that as sexual assault. I think that’s a stretch.”
“Sen. Sessions is a former US Attorney, if you can believe it, and is a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee,” the petition reads. “We cannot have men like this deciding judicial nominations and laws governing sexual assault.”
Sessions is a Republican member of the Committee, which is charged with confirming federal judges appointed by the president. He is the chair of the subcommittee on Immigration and The National Interest.
“Grabbing women’s genitals without their consent is the very definition of sexual assault, and it is a crime — full stop,” said Shaunna Thomas, cofounder of UltraViolet Action. “Whether Senator Sessions is just interested in enabling Donald Trump, normalizing his hate, racisms and abuse towards women, or is unable to understand the basic definition of sexual assault — his membership in the Senate Judiciary Committee is an insult to all women and undermines faith in our government.”
In addition to his service in the US Senate, Sessions is also a top political aide and adviser to Trump and his campaign, having helped the nominee write his immigration policy. Some reports have suggested Trump is considering Sessions for top positions in his administration.
Sessions endorsed Trump in late February, days before the Alabama Republican Primary took place in the State on March 1 of this year.
