Attorney General Sessions declines 'blanket' assurance to not jail journalists

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Oct 18 said he could not make a “blanket commitment” to not putting journalists in jail. During testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) asked AG Sessions if he could pledge to not place “reporters in jail for doing their jobs.” “Well, I don’t know that I can make a blanket commitment to that effect. But I will say this, we have not taken any aggressive action against the media at this point,” Sessions replied. “But we have matters that involve the most serious national security issues that put our country at risk and we will utilize the authorities that we have legally and constitutionally if we have to.” “We always try to find an alternative way, as you probably know, Sen. Klobuchar, to directly confronting media persons, but that’s not a total blanket protection,” Sessions said.