Coretta Scott King warned us years ago about Attorney General Jeff Sessions's "racist agenda," according to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).
Coretta Scott King warned everyone in '86 about Sessions' "reprehensible conduct" & "abuse of elderly black voters." Sessions hasn't changed
— Maxine Waters (@MaxineWaters) August 2, 2017
Waters is right that King wrote to the Judiciary Committee during Sessions’s confirmation hearings in 1986 to oppose his nomination to become a federal judge. She was particularly concerned about his record on voting rights as a U.S. attorney in Alabama.
“Mr. Sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters. For this reprehensible conduct, he should not be rewarded with a federal judgeship,” she wrote at the time.
It is the same letter Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) tried to read on the Senate floor in February to oppose Sessions's nomination, before she was silenced by the GOP majority. She and her supporters have since latched onto Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's "nevertheless she persisted" as an inspirational mantra.
While Waters and Warren use Coretta Scott King's letter to assassinate Sessions's character, they ignore his more commendable history on civil rights. Furthermore, some of his most vocal opponents, like Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), have actually been some of his biggest fans in years past.
Ignoring these hypocritical criticisms, Sessions is busy cracking down on the criminal leaks coming from the White House. Hopefully, that will appease President Trump for a bit.