Oh yeah, Sessions was there in 1998by digby
And he certainly believed a president could commit obstruction of justice:
Donald Trump’s personal lawyer argued Monday that, as the nominal head of federal law enforcement, the president is legally unable to obstruct justice. But the exact opposite view was once argued by another senior Trump lawyer: Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
In 1999, Sessions – then an Alabama senator – laid out an impassioned case for President Bill Clinton to be removed from office based on the argument that Clinton obstructed justice amid the investigation into his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
“The facts are disturbing and compelling on the President’s intent to obstruct justice,” he said, according to remarks in the congressional record.
Sessions isn’t alone. More than 40 current GOP members of Congress voted for the impeachment or removal of Clinton from office for obstruction of justice. They include Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell – who mounted his own passionate appeal to remove Clinton from office for obstruction of justice – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, who was a House member at the time.
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In all, 17 sitting senators supported the obstruction of justice charge against Clinton in 1998 and 1999.“The chief law officer of the land, whose oath of office calls on him to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, crossed the line and failed to defend the law, and, in fact, attacked the law and the rights of a fellow citizen,” Sessions said during Clinton’s trial in the Senate, two months after he was impeached by the House. “Under our Constitution, equal justice requires that he forfeit his office.”
Keep in mind that Clinton supposedly committed obstruction of justice when he got Lewinsky a job in another department and suggested she write an affidavit even though she said he never told her to lie (they just knew that’s what he must have meant) and some other silly things. He wasn’t leaning on the FBI to let his subordinate off the hook for telling the Russian government they would receive no punishment for helping them win the election — and then lying to the FBI about it.
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