--- title: Jeff Sessions: Cory Booker to Testify Against Trump AG Pick description: New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said he will testify this week against Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions—a move his office has said is unprecedented canonical: https://time.com/4629968/cory-booker-jeff-sessions-confirmation/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-10T13:00:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:45.587Z article:section: Politics og:title: Cory Booker Will Take an Unprecedented Stand Against Jeff Sessions og:description: "He has a posture and a positioning that I think represent a real danger" og:url: https://time.com/4629968/cory-booker-jeff-sessions-confirmation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd384404ad879d3be/6988b4e90a4a223d689cc804/cory-booker-jeff-sessions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Senate Subcommittee Hearing To Assess The Security Of Critical Transportation Infrastructure og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cory Booker Will Take an Unprecedented Stand Against Jeff Sessions twitter:description: "He has a posture and a positioning that I think represent a real danger" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd384404ad879d3be/6988b4e90a4a223d689cc804/cory-booker-jeff-sessions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Cory Booker Will Take an Unprecedented Stand Against Jeff Sessions > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=30c9a470-37dd-46db-b99d-3151ccf24b49&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Senate Committee Holds Hearings on Donald Trump’s Attorney General Pick Jeff Sessions [Watch (HLS stream): Senate Committee Holds Hearings on Donald Trump’s Attorney General Pick Jeff Sessions](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/h5xKVVeq.m3u8) (2:33)  _Published 2017-01-10. Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions stressed his reputation in the Senate when he testified before a key committee Tuesday that could decide whether he becomes Donald Trump’s attorney general_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 10, 2017 1:00 PM UTC  Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, questions a witness during a Senate Committee on Commerce Science & Transportation hearing in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 7, 2016. Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, questions a witness during a Senate Committee on Commerce Science & Transportation hearing in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 7, 2016. T.J. Kirkpatrick—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 10, 2017 1:00 PM UTC New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said he will testify this week against [Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions](http://time.com/4623936/jeff-sessions-attorney-general-hearings-senate/?xid=homepage)—a move his office has said is unprecedented in Senate history. “I’m breaking a pretty long Senate tradition by actually being a sitting Senator testifying tomorrow against another sitting Senator,” Booker said Monday in an [interview with MSNBC](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/sen-cory-booker-rep-john-lewis-testify-against-jeff-sessions-n705011). “Please understand, I think these are extraordinary times, and they call for extraordinary measures.” Sessions’ [confirmation hearings](http://time.com/4629821/donald-trump-cabinet-picks-senate-confirmation/) for the role of attorney general begin Tuesday. Booker told MSNBC that he plans to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday or Wednesday. “We’ve seen consistently Jeff Sessions—that’s Senator Jeff Sessions—voting against everything from the Matthew Shepard Act, voting against or speaking out against key ideals around the Voting Rights Act, taking measures to try to block criminal justice reform,” Booker said on MSNBC. “He has a posture and a positioning that I think represent a real danger to our country.” Others have also [raised concerns](http://time.com/4629246/khizr-khan-senate-judiciary-committee-jeff-sessions/) about Sessions’ stance on key issues, including voting rights, freedom of speech and religious freedom. Booker’s office said the Senate historian has not been able to find a prior instance of a sitting senator testifying against another siting senator nominated for a White House Cabinet position, [NBC News reported](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/sen-cory-booker-rep-john-lewis-testify-against-jeff-sessions-n705011). ## Transcript Would you raise your hand please, and answer this question. Do you swear that the testimony you're about to give before this committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? [ UNKNOWN ] [ INAUDIBLE ] No. Trump. No KKK. No fascist U. S. A. No Trump. No KKK. No fascist U. S. A. You know that I'm a man of my word and can be trusted to do what I say I will do. Let me address another issue straight on. I was accused in 1986 of failing to protect the voting rights of African Americans by presenting the Perry County case, a voter fraud case. And of condemning civil rights advocates and organizations. And even harboring, amazingly, sympathies for the KKK These are generally false charges. With regard to Secretary Clinton and some of the comments I made, I do believe that that could place my objectivity in question. I've given that thought. I believe the proper thing for me to do would be to recuse myself from any questions involving Those kind of investigations that involve Secretary Clinton. It is the law of the land, it is been so established and settled for quite a long time and it deserve respect and I would respect it and follow it. Many people do have religious views that are inimical to public safety of the United States. I did not want to have a resolution that suggested that that could not be a factor in the vetting process before someone is admitted. But I have no belief, and do not support the idea that Muslims as a religious group should be Denied admission to the United States. I believe the American people spoke clearly in this election. I believe they agreed with my basic view, and I think it's a good view, a decent view, a solid legal view for the United States of America that we create a lawful system of immigration That allows people to apply to this country, and if they're accepted they get in, if they're not accepted they don't get in, and I believe that's right and just, and the American people are right to ask for it. 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