As Winter Storm Grayson descends on the Acela Corridor (And when did we start naming blizzards, and why are the names always so lame?) Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III finds himself beset on all sides by heavy crosswinds and political erosion. (Yes, we are dealing in storm metaphors. Get used to it.) Some conservatives want him out so they can install a more pliable AG who will scotch the probe into Russian ratfcking. Other conservatives want him out because, states rights be damned, he keeps meddling into sensible policies adopted by states regarding marijuana. What’s a career authoritarian to do?

First, in The Washington Examiner, House Freedom Caucus fanatics Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan—or someone like them—wrote in an op-ed that Sessions should go because, in their fevered little minds, he has allowed himself to be a tool for a vast liberal cabal within the FBI. (The non-scandal about the IRS “targeting” of conservative groups even makes a cameo as the rant goes spinning off the rails.) Meadows and Jordan know what’s what, boy.



How many FBI agents and DOJ officials have illegally discussed aspects of an ongoing investigation with reporters? When will it stop? It’s apparent that Comey has never had a problem sharing information with reporters, and he allowed his team to "follow the leader" in that regard—but it is time for this practice to come to an immediate end. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from the Russia investigation, but it would appear he has no control at all of the premier law enforcement agency in the world. It is time for Sessions to start managing in a spirit of transparency to bring all of this improper behavior to light and stop further violations. If Sessions can't address this issue immediately, then we have one final question needing an answer: When is it time for a new attorney general? Sadly, it seems the answer is now.

Poor JeffBo. Even possibly reopening the investigation into Her Emaillllllzzzzzz (!) might not be enough to keep the wolves from his door. And then there’s this whole business about legal weed.



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When various states determined, often through public referenda, to get sensible about marijuana, it was the policy of the Obama Justice Department not to bogart its authority in this regard. The DOJ adopted a policy by which it simply let the states go their own giddy ways. Alas, JeffBo, who has a stick up his ass the size of a Louisville Slugger on this issue, announced that he is rescinding that policy. From CNN:



The main Justice Department memo addressing the issue, known as the "Cole memo" for then-Deputy Attorney General Jim Cole in 2013, set forth new priorities for federal prosecutors operating in states where the drug had been legalized for medical or other adult use. It represented a major shift from strict enforcement to a more hands-off approach, so long as they didn't threaten other federal priorities, such as preventing the distribution of the drug to minors and cartels. The memo will be rescinded but it's not immediately clear whether Sessions will issue new guidance in its place or simply revert back to older policies that left states with legal uncertainty about enforcement of federal law. The decision had been closely watched since Sessions was sworn in. He told reporters in November he was examining a "rational" policy.

This decision has caused Colorado’s Republican senator, Cory Gardner, to lose his shit. In Colorado, legal weed has proven to be something of an economic engine. Besides that, people like it and Gardner dearly would love to be re-elected, so he threw an elbow at JeffBo almost immediately, as The Denver Post reports.



“This reported action directly contradicts what Attorney General Sessions told me prior to his confirmation,” the Coloradan posted on Twitter. “With no prior notice to Congress, the Justice Department has trampled on the will of the voters in CO and other states. (President Donald Trump) had it right. This must be left up to the states.”…“I am prepared to take all steps necessary, including holding DOJ nominees, until the Attorney General lives up to the commitment he made to me prior to his confirmation,” Gardner also said Thursday morning.

JeffBo may have misled people during the confirmation process. I may never recover. Anyway, it’s apparent that our current AG is losing allies by the truckload. Oddly enough, his survival in office may depend on what Robert Mueller finds at the end of the trail. The more it becomes impossible for the president* to fire Mueller, the safer Sessions is. Whether he wants to spend the rest of his public career as a flak-catcher is another matter entirely.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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