Could Attorney General Jeff Sessions be fired?
However, this cloudy picture didn't stop pot stocks from steaming to big gains late last week after the feud between President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions escalated to new levels. In an interview with The Hill, Trump said, "I don't have an attorney general. It's very sad."
Trump and Sessions have been sparring for about a year now, since Sessions recused himself from the investigation into Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections. But things have worsened in recent weeks, with the president also disagreeing with the way Sessions has handled border policies. In fact, the tension between Trump and Sessions has become so critical that there are rumblings Sessions could be fired from his position.
The reason marijuana investors are so excited about this development is because Sessions has easily been the most vocal opponent of marijuana (both medical and recreational) on Capitol Hill. His departure would be viewed as a decisive win for the legalization movement in the United States.
For those who may not recall, Sessions was the one who rescinded the Cole memo on Jan. 4, 2018. Implemented during the Obama presidency, the Cole memo provided a loose set of guidelines that legalized states would need to follow to keep the federal government off their backs, so to speak. These guidelines included things like keeping weed away from adolescents and ensuring that marijuana grown in a legalized state stayed within its borders. When the Cole memo was rescinded, it gave state-level prosecutors the discretion to bring charges against individuals and businesses in violation of the Controlled Substances Act, even in instances where a state had chosen to legalize the drug.