Attorney General confirmation: Cory Booker tells Senate hearing Jeff Sessions does not have the 'empathy' required

Booker, one of three African-American senators, points to Sessions' record on minority rights

Donald Trump’s pick for Attorney General does not have the “empathy” for the role, according to Cory Booker, one of only three African American senators.

Jeff Sessions “has not demonstrated a commitment to a central requisite of the job – to aggressively pursue the congressional mandate of civil rights, equal rights and justice for all”, Mr Booker said.

The New Jersey Senator was testifying at the nomination hearing for Mr Sessions, who has been chosen by the President-elect to serve as the US government's chief law enforcement officer and chief lawyer.

But Mr Booker said that if Mr Trump's choice of the two-decade senator for Alabama was confirmed into the role he "will be required to pursue justice for women, but his record indicates that he won’t.”

He added: “He will be expected to defend voting rights, but his record indicates that he won’t."

Mr Booker was echoing the concerns raised by civil rights campaigners, who have been vocal in their criticism of Mr Trump's choice for the role.

Mr Sessions has previously been accused of bringing criminal prosecutions against a pair of black officials in his home state, as retaliation for their roles in derailing his nomination to be a judge.

J Gerald Hebert, a senior civil rights attorney at the Department of Justice, also said in sworn testimony to the Senate that Mr Sessions had described a white attorney as “maybe” a “disgrace to his race” for working with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

He also accused Mr Sessions of dismissing other civil rights organisations. Others have claimed he used racist language in the past.

In a 2009 discussion about a new federal hate crime law that would protect LGBT people and women, Mr Sessions said: “Today, I’m not sure women or people with different sexual orientations face that kind of discrimination, I just don’t see it.”

Despite the controversy, the nomination hearing - which started earlier this week with the senator holding a mixed-race baby in his lap - is expected to confirm Mr Sessions' appointment.

Senate Democrats do not have the votes to block his nomination and they do not appear to be seeking help from their Republican colleagues to do so.

Mr Booker, who has gained a reputation in the Senate for some degree of bipartisan work, nonetheless argued that the ideals of the nation called on him to oppose Mr Sessions’ nomination.

“I know it is exceptional for a senator to testify against another senator nominated for a cabinet position,” he said. “But I believe, like perhaps all of my colleagues in the Senate, that in the choice between standing with Senate norms or standing up for what my conscience tells me is best for our country, I will always choose conscience and country.”

He added that Mr Sessions' "record indicates that we cannot count on him to support state and national efforts toward bringing justice to a justice system that people on both sides of the aisle readily admit is biased against the poor, drug addicted, mentally ill, and people of colour.

The video of Mr Booker's testimony has already been viewed more than 3 million times on his official Facebook page.

Mr Sessions nonetheless attempted to assure officials that he would “say no” to Donald Trump if the President-elect tried to go beyond the law while in office.

He also poured cold water on the idea of a Muslim registry and bring back torture techniques that are currently banned, like waterboarding.