Grassley: Sessions not involved with travel ban order

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) refuted claims Tuesday that Attorney General nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) helped President Trump draft his executive order banning travel to the United States by people from seven Muslim nations.

“I’m not sure if it would be a problem even if he was involved,” he said during his opening remarks at the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting to vote on Sessions’s nomination. “The fact of the matter is he was not involved.”

Trump issued an executive order Friday barring all refugees from entering the U.S. for four months, and refugees from Syria are barred indefinitely. Citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Libya, Sudan and Yemen are barred from entering the U.S. for at least 90 days.

{mosads}Grassley said that Sessions stated for the record that neither he nor any members of his staff had a role in formulating or drafting the executive order.

One Trump aide with longstanding ties to Sessions has been linked to the order, however.

Stephen Miller, the White House policy director, was a close aide to Sessions until he joined the Trump campaign. He is an immigration hard-liner, and it has been reported that he had a major role in the order.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) during Tuesday’s hearing pointed to a Washington Post article detailing Sessions’s close connection and influence in the Trump administration. She argued this suggested he would not be an independent voice for the Justice Department but would instead be a voice for Trump.

“If this is true, how can we possibly conclude this nominee will be independent?” she asked.

Grassley argued that Justice needs an overhaul — a day after Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she directed the department to not enforce the immigration order.

“The department needs strong leadership and needs to be replaced as soon as possible,” he said.