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CREW has received records from the DOJ. The messages do not suggest that Cooper lobbied DOJ for his clients while representing then-AG Sessions. However, while a DOJ spokesperson asserted to Bloomberg News that Sessions would recuse himself from an internet gambling issue relevant to one of Cooper’s former lobbying clients, these records do not show that such a formal recusal was made.

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CREW requests:

  1. Communications from Charles Cooper to General Sessions or DOJ staff that mention or refer to Mr. Cooper’s lobbying client, Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling, or gambling in general, between May 1, 2017 and the present;
  2. Communications from Charles Cooper to General Sessions or DOJ staff that mention or refer to Mr. Cooper’s lobbying client, chemical company DuPont, or industrial chemicals in general, between May 1, 2017 and the present;
  3. Communications from Charles Cooper to General Sessions or DOJ staff that mention or refer to Mr. Cooper’s lobbying client, Inseego Corportation, or telematics in general, between May 1, 2017 and the present; and
  4. Communications between General Sessions and DOJ related to General Session’s recusal from decisions that would affect Mr. Cooper’s three lobbying clients.

On June 30, 2017, Bloomberg Politics reported that the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling, one of Mr. Cooper’s lobbying clients, had asked the DOJ to review a decision related to online gambling. A spokesperson for DOJ assured Bloomberg Politics that General Sessions would recuse himself from the gambling issue. The requested records could inform the public whether Mr. Cooper lobbied General Session after he began representing General Sessions, posing a conflict of interest for General Sessions.

Read DOJ request here.

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