Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday that the federal government is stepping in to help lower the dangerous murder rate in Chicago.
“This is good. We’ve been supporting that. We’re sending in additional gun investigators. We’ve directed our U.S. attorneys to prosecute these gun cases aggressively. The police have been demoralized in many ways. They’re not feeling good. The policies in Chicago have not been working. Murders are way way too high. Other cities like Chicago are far better off than Chicago,” Mr. Sessions said on Fox News.
He was responding to a tweet from President Trump earlier Friday morning that said the federal government was going to send help to get the city’s murder rate under control.
“Crime and killings in Chicago have reached such epidemic proportions that I am sending in Federal help. 1714 shootings in Chicago this year!” Mr. Trump tweeted.
Mr. Sessions also called the travel ban “a great victory for the president” and said the court rejected any notion that the restriction was unconstitutional.
As for the Russia case, Mr. Sessions has recused himself from all matters relating to the case, but said he had confidence in special counsel Robert Mueller’s ability and that of his team.
“Fundamentally the court rejected this whole narrative of the left that his orders, the president’s orders, were wrong and unjustified and unconstitutional,” the attorney general said.
“Mr. Mueller is entitled lawfully, I guess at this point, to hire who he desires. But I think he should look for people who have strength and credibility by all people,” Mr. Sessions said. “I feel confident in what he’ll do. That’s all I can say to you about that.”
Crime and killings in Chicago have reached such epidemic proportions that I am sending in Federal help. 1714 shootings in Chicago this year!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2017
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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