Kevin Johnson

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, facing a barrage of challenges to his record on civil rights enforcement and questions about racial tolerance as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, on Tuesday rejected the "false caricature'' that has long shadowed his public life and asserted that the Justice Department under his direction would "never falter in its obligation to protect the rights of every American, particularly those who are most vulnerable.’’

The first of the Trump administration’s most controversial nominees to appear for Senate confirmation, the 70-year-old former federal prosecutor and state attorney general arrived in the marble encrusted hearing room packed with protesters in an attempt to allay myriad grievances left in the wake of the nominee’s past racially charged statements and long anti-immigration record.

The hearing spanned more than 10 hours.

Yet even before he could take his seat at the witness table, protesters wearing Ku Klux Klan costumes erupted with shouts of "white power'' before they were ushered out, the first clash of several pitting demonstrators against Capitol Police. At least eight others had to be dragged out during the course of the session, some yelling, "No Trump, no KKK, no racist USA."

Sessions sat silently while protesters were moved before pressing ahead each time, at one point affirming to the Senate Judiciary Committee that "I deeply understand the history of civil rights and the horrendous impact that relentless and systemic discrimination and the denial of voting rights has had on our African-American brothers and sisters. “I have witnessed it. ... While humans must recognize the the limits of their abilities — and I do — I am ready for this job. We will do it right.''

Directly addressing claims that he sympathized with hate groups, including the KKK, and sought to intimidate black voters in a controversial 1985 voting fraud prosecution, Sessions called the assertions "false.'' And he denied referring to civil rights organizations as "un-American,'' an allegation made during his failed 1986 bid for a federal judgeship.

That 1986 hearing, Sessions said, propelled a inaccurate "caricature'' of his views on race and equality. "I do hope that I'm perhaps wiser and maybe a little better today,'' he said. "I did not harbor the kind of racial insensitivity that I was accused of. I did not.''

Responding to questions from Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., he also rejected any attempt, as once proposed by Trump, to deny prospective Muslim immigrants to the U.S., on the basis of their religion.

"I do not believe that Muslims as a religious group should be denied entry to the U.S.,'' Sessions said. As he offered the remarks, Khizr Khan, a vocal critique of Trump and the father of a Muslim soldier killed while serving in Iraq, sat a few rows behind the nominee. Khan has urged the Senate to reject Sessions' nomination.

On the broader issue of immigration, where he stands as the Congress' chief opponent to Obama administration efforts at reform, the senator conceded that the federal government lacked the resources to engage in a mass deportation of illegal immigrants, as Trump has previously suggested.

"We are not in a position, financially or otherwise, to seek out and remove (all illegal immigrants),'' Sessions said. "Let's fix the system.''

Nevertheless, he affirmed an unstinting stance on border security.

"We will prosecute those who repeatedly violate our borders,'' the nominee told the panel. "It will be my priority to confront these crises vigorously, effectively and immediately.''

In one of the first questions Sessions fielded, he said he would recuse himself from any investigations related to former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Sessions said his objectivity could be called into question because of his past statements about Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Sessions also pledged that he would "systematically'' prosecute gun crimes and reaffirmed his unstinting stance on border security.

"We will prosecute those who repeatedly violate our borders,'' the nominee told the panel. "It will be my priority to confront these crises vigorously, effectively and immediately.''

Among the most vocal responses from protesters came after Sessions affirmed his support for maintaining the military prison at Guantanamo Bay for suspected terrorists, a facility that the Obama administration has long sought to shut down.

Guantanamo, Sessions told Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., "fits that purpose marvelously well.''

"No!'' shouted protesters who jumped to their feet in the rear gallery. At least two of the protesters struggled officers, as they were removed.

Though the closure of the controversial prison proved to be a non-starter for Sessions, he acknowledged that the interrogation tactic known as waterboarding was illegal. The acknowledgement appeared to be a reversal for the senator who had expressed support for harsh tactics in questioning terror suspects.

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Though Sessions has spent two decades in the Senate and has participated in dozens of confirmation hearings as a committee member, supporters have emphasized the need for serious preparation if only to avoid a painful repeat of an appearance before the panel 30 years ago when his nomination for a federal judgeship was was rejected, in part, for his racially charged comments. Throughout Tuesday's session, however, Sessions appeared largely unflustered during a hearing that featured only rare flashes of emotion from the nominee and committee members.

At other moments, Sessions sought to distance himself from some of the strident rhetoric espoused during the primary and general election campaigns and immediately following Trump's election.

On Russia's use of cyber espionage in an attempt to meddle in the presidential election, Sessions left little wiggle room, unlike the president-elect, saying there was "no reason to doubt'' the assessment of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia did seek to influence the election in favor of Trump.

And when Leahy asked whether the unwanted grabbing the genitals amounted to sexual assault — directly referring to Trump's tape-recorded comments broadcast during the campaign — Sessions responded with little equivocation: "Clearly it would be.''

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the panel's ranking Democrat, appeared most uncomfortable Tuesday as she urged a close examination of her longtime colleague's record and his close association with Trump — he was the first U.S. senator to throw his support to the then-candidate.

"The senator before us this morning is someone many of us on this committee have worked with for 20 years,'' Feinstein said. "That makes this very difficult for me ... We cannot ignore that there are deep concerns and anxiety throughout America. There is a deep fear about what the Trump administration will bring in many places. And it is in this context in which we must consider Sen. Sessions' record and nomination to become the chief law enforcement officer of America.''

Civil rights leaders opposed

A coalition of civil rights advocates, meanwhile, have stepped up their opposition in recent days, renewing a call for a hearing delay while characterizing the nominee as "unfit.'' Many of them were among the standing-room only hearing room gallery.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which described Sessions' nomination as "particularly fraught,'' was represented throughout the hearing room, Sherrilyn Ifill, the group's president, has specifically cited Sessions' failed prosecution of a 1985 voter fraud case in Alabama involving three local black activists that has become a cause célèbre for the senator's opponents.

The three were quickly acquitted, though the case has followed the senator since with questions about whether the then-federal prosecutor sought to intimidate black voters.

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Albert Turner Jr., the son of two of the activists charged in the case, issued a surprise endorsement of Sessions' last week, dismissing claims that the prosecutor's actions then were motivated by race.

"My differences in policy and ideology with him do not translate to personal malice,'' Turner said. "He is not a racist. ... He was presented with evidence by a local district attorney that he relied on, and his office presented the case. That’s what a prosecutor does. I believe him when he says that he was simply doing his job.''

Turner's elderly mother, Evelyn Turner, however, said the matter remained a painful chapter in the family's life and would not support Sessions' nomination.

Sessions said the case was brought with no racial animus, adding that the prosecution had contributed to the "inaccurate'' portrayal of him as racially insensitive.

"The caricature created of me was not accurate then; it is not accurate now,'' he told Sen. Graham, who pointedly offered the nominee a chance to explain himself.

High-profile supporters

Sessions' team has assembled a stable of high-profile supporters to emphasize a positive narrative. Among them: former attorney general Michael Mukasey, former deputy attorney general Larry Thompson and former FBI director Louis Freeh.

Mukasey and Thompson, who sat behind the nominee throughout Tuesday's session, are set to testify on Sessions' behalf before the committee Wednesday.

On Tuesday, though, it was up to Sessions himself to defend a long public record and his nomination for the job as the nation's chief law enforcement officer.

"Our hearing today hardly introduces Sen.Sessions to the committee,'' said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the panel's Republican chairman. "No, we’re here today to review the character and qualifications of a colleague who has served alongside us in the Senate for 20 years.

"And every member of this committee knows from experience that, in his new role, Sen. Session will be a leader for law and order without regard to person.''