page_title: Jeff Sessions
section_title: 2016 presidential election
hierarchical_section_title: Jeff Sessions / U.S. senator (1997–2017) / 2016 presidential election
caption_attribution_description: English: Jeff Sessions speaking at an immigration policy speech hosted by Donald Trump in Phoenix, Arizona.
context_page_description: Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 84th United States attorney general from 2017 to 2018. A Republican, Sessions previously served as United States senator from Alabama from 1997 to 2017 before resigning that position to serve in the administration of President Donald Trump.
  From 1981 to 1993, Sessions served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan nominated Sessions to a judgeship on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. After allegations of racism were made against him in testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, which Sessions denied, the committee voted against advancing his nomination to the Senate floor; the nomination was later withdrawn. Sessions was elected Attorney General of Alabama in 1994. In 1996, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, and was re-elected in 2002, 2008, and 2014. During his Senate tenure, Sessions was considered one of the most conservative Senators.
context_section_description: Sessions was an early supporter of the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump, and was a major policy adviser to the Trump campaign, especially in regard to immigration and national security. He was on the short list to become Trump's running mate and was widely seen as a potential Cabinet secretary in a Trump administration.
  Sessions donned a "Make America Great Again" cap at a Trump rally in August 2015, and Stephen Miller, Sessions' longtime-communications director, joined the Trump campaign. On February 28, 2016, Sessions officially endorsed Donald Trump for president. Session's endorsement further legitimized Trump's longshot campaign, as he was the first and only sitting U.S Senator to endorse him during the primary. Sessions' and Rudy Giuliani's appearance was a staple at Trump campaign rallies. Uncorroborated Russian communications intercepted by U.S. intelligence agencies discuss Ambassador Sergey Kislyak meeting privately with Sessions at the Mayflower Hotel during a Trump campaign event in April 2016.
caption: Sessions speaking at a campaign event for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on August 31, 2016
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