Donald Trump is continuing the process of building his cabinet as he prepares to take office in January and his latest selection made is for the crucial position of U.S. Attorney General.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department confirmed on Thursday that they are working with Trump’s team to transition Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions into the position as the nation’s top law enforcement official. Sessions’ history in politics is riddled with allegations of racism, a strong opposition to immigration reform, and a nearly 20-year run in the Senate.
Here are 10 more facts about newly-appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
1. His full name is Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III.
2. He is 69 years old.
3. He allegedly once joked that he liked the Ku Klux Klan until he found out they smoked marijuana.
4. Earlier this year while speaking at the Foot Soldiers Ceremony in Washington D.C., Sessions said he regrets not getting more involved with the Civil Rights Movement as a young adult after witnessing discrimination growing up.
5. He was elected Attorney General of Alabama in 1995.
6. He has referred to the NAACP, ACLU and other civil rights organizations as “un-American” and “communist-inspired” during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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7. Ronald Reagan nominated him as a federal judge in 1986, but the nomination was rejected after he was alleged to have made racially charged comments on several occasions, including an incident where he called a Black attorney “boy.”
8. He has a consistent track record of opposing immigration reform.
9. He was elected to the Senate in 1997 and currently serves on the Judiciary Committee.
10. He was also being considered by Trump for Secretary of Defense.