Pete Sessions
Encyclopedia
Peter Anderson Sessions is a politician
from the state
of Texas
. He is a Republican
, and currently represents the 32nd congressional district
in the U.S. House of Representatives
. He is the current Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee
, where he grew up. His father is William S. Sessions
, the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
. He graduated from Southwestern University
in Georgetown, Texas
in 1978. Sessions then worked for Southwestern Bell
for 16 years. He rose to the rank of district manager for marketing in Dallas, supervising 435 employees and managing a $16 million budget. He also worked at Bell Communications Research (AKA Bellcore, currently named Telcordia Technologies) in New Jersey.
He is an Eagle Scout
with four generations of Boy Scouts in his family, and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
from the Boy Scouts of America
, as well as a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha
Fraternity
. As a Congressman, Sessions has sponsored legislation to raise money for the Boy Scouts. At the 2007 National Convention, Sessions was presented with the Pi Kappa Alpha Distinguished Alumni Award.
Sessions and his wife Juanita have two sons, Bill (age 21), who is also a member of Pi Kappa Alpha, and Alex (age 16). The Dallas Morning News reported on July 15, 2011 that Sessions and his wife "decided to separate after much thought and discussion."
signed H.R. 5872 entitled, the Boy Scouts of America
Centennial Commemorative Coin Act. The bill calls for 350,000 $1 silver coins to be minted. The Boy Scouts of America has recognized Congressman Sessions as a Distinguished Eagle Scout. He currently holds a position on the Circle Ten Council
of Boy Scouts of America. Both of the Congressman's sons are active in the Boy Scouts. Last year, Alex, who was born with Down Syndrome
, joined the Order of the Arrow
. Congressman Sessions received the Vigil Honor, the highest achievement in the OA from the Mikanakawa Lodge, Order of the Arrow, in April 2008.
.
In 1993, Sessions left his job with Southwestern Bell to again run for Congress, against 5th District incumbent
Democrat John Bryant
. Sessions made a tour of the district with a livestock trailer full of horse manure, claiming that the Clinton administration's health care plan stank more than the manure. Sessions lost by 2,400 votes. He subsequently became Vice President for Public Policy at the National Center for Policy Analysis
(NCPA), a Dallas-based conservative public policy research institute.
In 1996, when Bryant decided to seek a Senate
seat, Sessions was elected to succeed him in the 5th District, defeating Democrat John Pouland with 47 percent of the vote. Sessions was re-elected in 1998, defeating school teacher Victor Morales with 56 percent of the vote. He was re-elected in 2000 with 54 percent of the vote against Regina Montoya Coggins.
When redistricting after the 2000 Census made the 5th slightly more Democratic, Sessions moved to the new 32nd District (map) for the 2002 election. He won that with 68 percent of the vote over Pauline Dixon.
In 2004, Sessions defeated fellow Congressman Martin Frost
, a 13-term Democrat, who had moved to the 32nd after the Republican-engineered redistricting in 2003
eliminated Frost's former district. Sessions won 54-44%, in what was considered the most expensive U.S. House race in the nation. According to the Associated Press, "The race also was one of the nastiest, with Frost unearthing a decades-old streaking incident by Sessions in his college days and questioning Sessions' commitment to security with an ad featuring the World Trade Center
towers in flames. Sessions criticized Frost for booking Peter Yarrow
of the 1960s group Peter, Paul and Mary
for a fundraiser. Yarrow had faced an indecency with a child charge years earlier."
In March 2010, Sessions faced David Smith in a primary election. Sessions' opponent, David Smith, is a businessman that ran partly due to the votes Sessions has cast over the years. Smith's campaign has focused on Sessions' support of the bailouts, increased federal spending, and Sessions being voted as one of the most corrupt representatives in Congress. Sessions has faced over the years numerous ethics complaints which included, among others, holding a fundraiser at a Las Vegas strip club. Sessions then faced noted Dallas businessman and attorney Grier Raggio
in the general election.
stock options, and his wife worked for Cingular, which was jointly owned by AT&T at the time and has since folded into AT&T. The Sunlight Foundation
pointed out in 2008 that among the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Sessions has the sixth-highest amount of investment in oil stocks.
members asking them to shut down casinos operated by several Native American
tribes. Within 18 months of sending the letters, Sessions received a total of $20,500 from tribes associated with Jack Abramoff
raising suspicion that Sessions had written the letters to curry favor with Abramoff as he represented a number of competing tribes. In response, the Sessions office said he wrote the letters because of his view that gambling is a local issue, falling under his long held support for federalism
.
On January 11, 2002, Sessions traveled to Malaysia with two of Abramoff's co-workers from the law firm Greenberg Traurig
. The trip allegedly was sponsored by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies and a Malaysian think tank with ties to that country’s government. Various news reports, however, suggest that a Malaysian client secretly paid Abramoff and Michael Scanlon
, an Abramoff associate, through a sham think tank that Scanlon created, the American International Center. His office said that Sessions went on the trip to strengthen ties with an Islamic ally.
legislative strategy in the House of Representatives: "Insurgency, we understand perhaps a little bit more because of the Taliban," Sessions said during the 60-minute sitdown. "And that is that they went about systematically understanding how to disrupt and change a person's entire processes." He continued: "I'm not trying to say the Republican Party is the Taliban.... I'm saying an example of how you go about [it] is to change a person from their messaging to their operations to their frontline message. And we need to understand that insurgency may be required when the other side, the House leadership, does not follow the same commands, which we entered the game with."
to an appropriations bill, for dirigible research. The earmark benefitted a Chicago
company, Jim G. Ferguson & Associates, which has no experience in government contracting or dirigible research. A former Sessions aide and convicted felon
, Adrian Plesha is a lobbyist for the firm.
In September, Adrian Plesha sued Jim G. Ferguson & Associates for non-payment of fees and expenses connected with his lobbying effort on their behalf. The lawsuits mentions the dirigible research project, saying, "as a direct result of Plesha’s services in 2007 through 2008, Plesha was able to secure a $1.6 million appropriation for defendants in September 2008...".
. Records show that Sessions received over $44,000 in political contributions from Allen Stanford and his associates. Sessions also took multiple trips to the Caribbean
to attend Stanford sponsored events. These trips included private travel for Sessions on Stanford's fleet of luxury jets, and accommodation in luxury resorts.
After Stanford was indicted on federal charges Sessions lied about his relationship with Stanford, and claimed he never knew the man. However, multiple pictures surfaced showing the two men together on multiple occasions in the Caribbean.
financial contributors in the country, and gave Pete Sessions nearly $30,000 during his time in the United States Congress
.
men's basketball team, "How often can you go see a bunch of white guys play basketball?" He also reportedly said that the players stayed entirely below the rim. The comments were described as an allusion to the phrase "White Men Can't Jump
", and were labeled as inappropriate by New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell.
Less than two weeks after his "white guys" comments Sessions made derogatory comments about African-American support for Democratic candidates.
and Libertarian John Jay Myers in 2010. The election was initially named as one of the top dark horse battles in the country. Anti-Democratic sentiment rose nationwide throughout 2010, however, and Sessions won re-election easily.
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
from the state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. He is a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, and currently represents the 32nd congressional district
Texas's 32nd congressional district
Texas's 32nd congressional district of the United States House of Representatives serves a suburban area of northwestern Dallas, Texas. The district was created after the 2000 census when Texas went from 30 seats to 32 seats...
in the U.S. House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. He is the current Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee
National Republican Congressional Committee
The National Republican Congressional Committee is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives....
Personal
Sessions was born in Waco, TexasWaco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
, where he grew up. His father is William S. Sessions
William S. Sessions
William Steele Sessions is a civil servant who served as a judge and 4th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation...
, the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
. He graduated from Southwestern University
Southwestern University
Southwestern University is a private, four-year, undergraduate, liberal arts college located in Georgetown, Texas, USA. Founded in 1840, Southwestern is the oldest university in Texas. The school is affiliated with the United Methodist Church although the curriculum is nonsectarian...
in Georgetown, Texas
Georgetown, Texas
Georgetown is a city and also the county seat of Williamson County, Texas, United States with a population of 47,400 at the 2010 census. Southwestern University, founded in 1840, is the oldest university in Texas and is located in Georgetown, about 1/2 mile east of the historic square...
in 1978. Sessions then worked for Southwestern Bell
Southwestern Bell
Southwestern Bell Telephone Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T. It does business as AT&T Southwest and other d/b/a names in its operating region.The company is currently headquartered in Dallas, Texas at One AT&T Plaza.-History:...
for 16 years. He rose to the rank of district manager for marketing in Dallas, supervising 435 employees and managing a $16 million budget. He also worked at Bell Communications Research (AKA Bellcore, currently named Telcordia Technologies) in New Jersey.
He is an Eagle Scout
Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)
Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...
with four generations of Boy Scouts in his family, and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America . It is awarded to an Eagle Scout for distinguished service in his profession and to his community for a period of at least 25 years after attaining the level of Eagle Scout...
from the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
, as well as a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha
Pi Kappa Alpha
Pi Kappa Alpha is a Greek social fraternity with over 230 chapters and colonies and over 250,000 lifetime initiates in the United States and Canada.-History:...
Fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
. As a Congressman, Sessions has sponsored legislation to raise money for the Boy Scouts. At the 2007 National Convention, Sessions was presented with the Pi Kappa Alpha Distinguished Alumni Award.
Sessions and his wife Juanita have two sons, Bill (age 21), who is also a member of Pi Kappa Alpha, and Alex (age 16). The Dallas Morning News reported on July 15, 2011 that Sessions and his wife "decided to separate after much thought and discussion."
Boy Scouts
Congressman Sessions has led congressional efforts to recognize the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America by introducing a "100 Years of Scouting" commemorative coin that will be released in 2010. In 2008, President George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
signed H.R. 5872 entitled, the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
Centennial Commemorative Coin Act. The bill calls for 350,000 $1 silver coins to be minted. The Boy Scouts of America has recognized Congressman Sessions as a Distinguished Eagle Scout. He currently holds a position on the Circle Ten Council
Circle Ten Council
Circle Ten Council is the main Boy Scouts of America chartered council in central north Texas and a portion of Oklahoma. It encompasses all or parts of: Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Henderson, Hunt, Kaufman, Navarro, Rains, Rockwall and Van Zandt counties in Texas as well as Bryan...
of Boy Scouts of America. Both of the Congressman's sons are active in the Boy Scouts. Last year, Alex, who was born with Down Syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
, joined the Order of the Arrow
Order of the Arrow
The Order of the Arrow is the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America . It uses American Indian-styled traditions and ceremonies to bestow recognition on scouts selected by their peers as best exemplifying the ideals of Scouting. The society was created by E. Urner Goodman, with the...
. Congressman Sessions received the Vigil Honor, the highest achievement in the OA from the Mikanakawa Lodge, Order of the Arrow, in April 2008.
Campaigns
In his 1991 election bid, Sessions finished third in a special election for the House of RepresentativesUnited States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
.
In 1993, Sessions left his job with Southwestern Bell to again run for Congress, against 5th District incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Democrat John Bryant
John Wiley Bryant
John Wiley Bryant is a Texas politician who represented Texas's 5th congressional district in the 98th to 104th U.S. Congress....
. Sessions made a tour of the district with a livestock trailer full of horse manure, claiming that the Clinton administration's health care plan stank more than the manure. Sessions lost by 2,400 votes. He subsequently became Vice President for Public Policy at the National Center for Policy Analysis
National Center for Policy Analysis
The National Center for Policy Analysis is a non-profit American conservative think tank whose goals are to develop and promote private alternatives to government regulation and control...
(NCPA), a Dallas-based conservative public policy research institute.
In 1996, when Bryant decided to seek a Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
seat, Sessions was elected to succeed him in the 5th District, defeating Democrat John Pouland with 47 percent of the vote. Sessions was re-elected in 1998, defeating school teacher Victor Morales with 56 percent of the vote. He was re-elected in 2000 with 54 percent of the vote against Regina Montoya Coggins.
When redistricting after the 2000 Census made the 5th slightly more Democratic, Sessions moved to the new 32nd District (map) for the 2002 election. He won that with 68 percent of the vote over Pauline Dixon.
In 2004, Sessions defeated fellow Congressman Martin Frost
Martin Frost
Jonas Martin Frost III is an American politician, who was the Democratic representative to the U.S. House of Representatives for Texas's 24th congressional district from 1979 to 2005.-Personal life:...
, a 13-term Democrat, who had moved to the 32nd after the Republican-engineered redistricting in 2003
2003 Texas redistricting
The 2003 Texas redistricting refers to a controversial mid-decade congressional redistricting plan appealed to the United States Supreme Court in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry...
eliminated Frost's former district. Sessions won 54-44%, in what was considered the most expensive U.S. House race in the nation. According to the Associated Press, "The race also was one of the nastiest, with Frost unearthing a decades-old streaking incident by Sessions in his college days and questioning Sessions' commitment to security with an ad featuring the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
towers in flames. Sessions criticized Frost for booking Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow is an American singer who found fame with the 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote one of the group's most famous songs, "Puff, the Magic Dragon"...
of the 1960s group Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio whose nearly 50-year career began with their rise to become a paradigm for 1960s folk music. The trio was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers...
for a fundraiser. Yarrow had faced an indecency with a child charge years earlier."
In March 2010, Sessions faced David Smith in a primary election. Sessions' opponent, David Smith, is a businessman that ran partly due to the votes Sessions has cast over the years. Smith's campaign has focused on Sessions' support of the bailouts, increased federal spending, and Sessions being voted as one of the most corrupt representatives in Congress. Sessions has faced over the years numerous ethics complaints which included, among others, holding a fundraiser at a Las Vegas strip club. Sessions then faced noted Dallas businessman and attorney Grier Raggio
Grier Raggio
Grier Raggio is an American attorney and politician. He was a Democratic candidate in the 2010 election for the United States House of Representatives seat in Texas's 32nd congressional district...
in the general election.
Committee assignments
- House Committee on RulesUnited States House Committee on RulesThe Committee on Rules, or Rules Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. Rather than being responsible for a specific area of policy, as most other committees are, it is in charge of determining under what rule other bills will come to the floor...
- Subcommittee on Rules and the Organization of the HouseUnited States House Rules Subcommittee on Rules and the Organization of the HouseThe Subcommittee on Rules and Organization of the House is a subcommittee within the House Rules CommitteeUnder the Committee rules, as amended for the 110th Congress, the Rules and the Organization of the House subcommittee will have general responsibility for measures or matters related to...
(Ranking Member)
- Subcommittee on Rules and the Organization of the House
Party leadership and caucus memberships
- National Republican Congressional CommitteeNational Republican Congressional CommitteeThe National Republican Congressional Committee is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives....
(Chairman) - Results Caucus
- Malaysia Trade, Security and Economic Cooperation Caucus
- Republican Study CommitteeRepublican Study CommitteeThe Republican Study Committee [RSC] is a caucus of over 170 conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives...
- Congressional Hispanic ConferenceCongressional Hispanic ConferenceThe Congressional Hispanic Conference is a Republican Party-controlled caucus in the United States Congress. The CHC was formed in 2003, with the stated goal of promoting policy outcomes of importance to Americans of Hispanic or Latino and Portuguese descent. These priorities included support of...
{associate member} - Tea Party CaucusTea Party CaucusThe Tea Party Caucus is a caucus of the United States House of Representatives and Senate launched and chaired by Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann on July 16, 2010. The caucus is dedicated to promoting what it considers fiscal responsibility, adherence to the movement's interpretation of...
Financial holdings
Sessions failed to pass the "Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act of 2005" (HR2726), which would have prohibited state and local governments from offering internet access services. However, questions have been raised about Sessions's partiality toward the telecom industry: According to Sessions' House financial disclosure forms from 2003, he has between $500,000 and $1 million in AT&TAT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
stock options, and his wife worked for Cingular, which was jointly owned by AT&T at the time and has since folded into AT&T. The Sunlight Foundation
Sunlight Foundation
The Sunlight Foundation is a 501 educational organization founded in April 2006 with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the United States government....
pointed out in 2008 that among the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Sessions has the sixth-highest amount of investment in oil stocks.
Connections to Abramoff
In late 2001 and early 2002, Sessions cosigned letters to two CabinetUnited States Cabinet
The Cabinet of the United States is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States, which are generally the heads of the federal executive departments...
members asking them to shut down casinos operated by several Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
tribes. Within 18 months of sending the letters, Sessions received a total of $20,500 from tribes associated with Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff is an American former lobbyist and businessman. Convicted in 2006 of mail fraud and conspiracy, he was at the heart of an extensive corruption investigation that led to the conviction of White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine...
raising suspicion that Sessions had written the letters to curry favor with Abramoff as he represented a number of competing tribes. In response, the Sessions office said he wrote the letters because of his view that gambling is a local issue, falling under his long held support for federalism
Federalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...
.
On January 11, 2002, Sessions traveled to Malaysia with two of Abramoff's co-workers from the law firm Greenberg Traurig
Greenberg Traurig
Greenberg Traurig LLP and Greenberg Traurig PA is an international law firm based in Miami, Florida.The firm has approximately 1,800 attorneys and governmental professionals in 32 locations in the United States, Europe and Asia. Its founding office is in Miami, Florida with its largest office in...
. The trip allegedly was sponsored by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies and a Malaysian think tank with ties to that country’s government. Various news reports, however, suggest that a Malaysian client secretly paid Abramoff and Michael Scanlon
Michael Scanlon
Michael Scanlon, AKA "Sean Scanlon", is a former communications director for Rep. Tom DeLay, lobbyist, and public relations executive who has pleaded guilty to corruption charges related to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal...
, an Abramoff associate, through a sham think tank that Scanlon created, the American International Center. His office said that Sessions went on the trip to strengthen ties with an Islamic ally.
Taliban comments
In early February 2009 he made the following comment about the Republican PartyRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
legislative strategy in the House of Representatives: "Insurgency, we understand perhaps a little bit more because of the Taliban," Sessions said during the 60-minute sitdown. "And that is that they went about systematically understanding how to disrupt and change a person's entire processes." He continued: "I'm not trying to say the Republican Party is the Taliban.... I'm saying an example of how you go about [it] is to change a person from their messaging to their operations to their frontline message. And we need to understand that insurgency may be required when the other side, the House leadership, does not follow the same commands, which we entered the game with."
Blimpgate
In 2008, Sessions added a $1.6 million earmarkEarmark (politics)
In United States politics, an earmark is a legislative provision that directs approved funds to be spent on specific projects, or that directs specific exemptions from taxes or mandated fees...
to an appropriations bill, for dirigible research. The earmark benefitted a Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
company, Jim G. Ferguson & Associates, which has no experience in government contracting or dirigible research. A former Sessions aide and convicted felon
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
, Adrian Plesha is a lobbyist for the firm.
In September, Adrian Plesha sued Jim G. Ferguson & Associates for non-payment of fees and expenses connected with his lobbying effort on their behalf. The lawsuits mentions the dirigible research project, saying, "as a direct result of Plesha’s services in 2007 through 2008, Plesha was able to secure a $1.6 million appropriation for defendants in September 2008...".
Ties to Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford
Sessions has come under criticism for his strong personal ties to Ponzi schemer Allen StanfordAllen Stanford
Robert Allen Stanford is a former prominent financier and sponsor of professional sports who is in prison awaiting trial on charges his investment company was a massive Ponzi scheme and fraud. Stanford was the chairman of the now defunct Stanford Financial Group of Companies. A fifth-generation...
. Records show that Sessions received over $44,000 in political contributions from Allen Stanford and his associates. Sessions also took multiple trips to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
to attend Stanford sponsored events. These trips included private travel for Sessions on Stanford's fleet of luxury jets, and accommodation in luxury resorts.
After Stanford was indicted on federal charges Sessions lied about his relationship with Stanford, and claimed he never knew the man. However, multiple pictures surfaced showing the two men together on multiple occasions in the Caribbean.
Illegal contributions from Wyly Brothers
On July 29, 2010 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed fraud charges against brothers Samuel and Charles Wyly. The two brothers were charged with creating phony overseas accounts to illegally trade $750 million in stocks. Both brothers were two of the top RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
financial contributors in the country, and gave Pete Sessions nearly $30,000 during his time in the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
.
Racial comments
In September 2010, Sessions remarked after watching the Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
men's basketball team, "How often can you go see a bunch of white guys play basketball?" He also reportedly said that the players stayed entirely below the rim. The comments were described as an allusion to the phrase "White Men Can't Jump
White Men Can't Jump
White Men Can't Jump is a 1992 American sports comedy drama film starring Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as streetball hustlers, co-starring Rosie Perez...
", and were labeled as inappropriate by New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell.
Less than two weeks after his "white guys" comments Sessions made derogatory comments about African-American support for Democratic candidates.
2010 election
Sessions faced well-known Dallas businessman and attorney Grier RaggioGrier Raggio
Grier Raggio is an American attorney and politician. He was a Democratic candidate in the 2010 election for the United States House of Representatives seat in Texas's 32nd congressional district...
and Libertarian John Jay Myers in 2010. The election was initially named as one of the top dark horse battles in the country. Anti-Democratic sentiment rose nationwide throughout 2010, however, and Sessions won re-election easily.