Critics question top US prosecutor’s style after blunt words
WASHINGTON — With two dust-ups in a week, first with a judge in Hawaii and another with leaders of the nation’s largest and most powerful police department, Attorney General Jeff Sessions sounds to some more like the conservative senator from Alabama he once was rather than the top prosecutor he is today.
And some observers say the Republican’s blunt style could strain relationships with the very law enforcement officials whose partnerships he contends are vital and risks politicizing criminal justice issues that demand the Justice Department’s attention.
Sessions drew the ire of Hawaii’s Democratic lawmakers after saying on a radio show he was “amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific” could stop President Donald Trump’s travel ban, though he later indicated the comment was meant as a joke.
Two days after the radio show, the Justice Department accused New York City of being soft on crime, a statement the police commissioner called “absolutely ludicrous.” Sessions later said the criticism was directed not at the rank-and-file but at the policies of Mayor Bill de Blasio, a longtime Trump foe. But some officers saw it as an insult to their work.