Despite being a Republican who was appointed by Reagan, Sessions disappointed the administration of President
George H. W. Bush for not being partisan, and he was personally disliked by Attorney General
Dick Thornburgh. Sessions had an uneasy relationship with Thornburgh's successor
William P. Barr. Reflecting the tensions between the Justice Department and the independent Bureau, Sessions announced that the FBI would be looking into whether Justice Department officials illegally misled a federal judge in a politically sensitive bank fraud case involving loans to Iraq before the
Persian Gulf War, and 48 hours later Sessions was the subject of an ethics investigation on whether he had abused his office perks.
[5][2]
Sessions enjoyed his strongest support among liberal Democrats in Congress.
[5][3] Sessions was applauded for pursuing a policy of broadening the FBI to include more women and minorities, efforts which upset the "old boys" at the Bureau.
[4]
Sample "
Winners Don't Use Drugs" message. This one is from
Golden Axe.
Sessions became associated with the phrase "
Winners Don't Use Drugs", which appeared on idle North American-released
arcade game screens during demos or after a player finished playing a game. By law it had to be included on all imported arcade games released in North America and continued to appear long after Sessions left office. The quote normally appeared in gold against a blue background between the FBI seal and Sessions' name.
Sessions' major contributions to the US criminal justice community include the encouraging of the FBI Laboratory to develop a DNA program with a strong legal underpinning and the automation of the national fingerprint process. The later project, known as the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) reduced the turn around time for fingerprint searches for both criminal arrest cycles and applicants for sensitive positions to include teachers from months to hours. A full description of the IAFIS program can be found in Section 2.7 of the book: Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS) published by Elsevier, Inc. in 2005;
ISBN 0-12-418351-4.
[5]
Sessions was FBI director during the controversial 1992 confrontation at
Ruby Ridge,
Idaho, at which the unarmed Vicky Weaver and her son were shot dead by an FBI sniper. This incident provoked heavy criticism of the Bureau, as did the
deadly assault on the
Branch Davidian compound which lasted from February 28 to April 19, 1993. These incidents were also related to the discovery of severe procedural shortcomings at the FBI's crime laboratory.
Just before
Bill Clinton was inaugurated as the 42nd
President of the United States on January 20, 1993, allegations of ethical improprieties were made against Sessions. A report by outgoing Attorney General
William P. Barr presented to the
Justice Department that month by the
Office of Professional Responsibility included criticisms that he had used an FBI plane to travel to visit his daughter on several occasions, and had a security system installed in his home at government expense.
[5] Janet Reno, the 78th
Attorney General of the United States, announced that Sessions had exhibited "serious deficiencies in judgment."
[6]
Although Sessions denied that he had acted improperly, he was pressured to resign in early July, with some suggesting that President Clinton was giving Sessions the chance to step down in a dignified manner.