The question of online gambling in the United States made headlines again this week following a confirmation hearing of Senator Jeff Sessions, Trump’s nominee for U.S. Attorney General, in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. One of the committee members, Senator Lindsay Graham, couldn’t help directing the discussion to his pet subject – a federal online gambling ban. After declaring to Sessions that he would back his nomination as US Attorney General, Graham then asked Jeff Sessions to comment on the Obama administration’s reinterpretation of the Wire Act in 2011, where the Department of Justice sent a memorandum stating that it only considered online sports betting to be illegal, and not online gambling. This opened the door to several states changing their online gambling laws, with some even legalizing and regulating it.
“About the Wire Act, what’s your view of the Obama’s Administration’s interpretation of the Wire Act law to allow online video poker, or poker gambling?” Sessions was asked by Senator Graham.
“Senator Graham,” replied Sessions, “I was shocked at the memorandum – I guess – the enforcement memorandum that the Department of Justice issued with regard to the Wire Act and criticized it. Apparently, there is some justification or argument that can be made to support the Department of Justice’s position, but I did oppose it when it happened and it seemed to me to be unusual.”
Senator Graham then asked Trump’s Attorney General nominee whether he would revisit the DOJ’s 2011 interpretation. Sessions replied to this: “I would revisit it and I would make a decision about it based on careful study and I haven’t gone that far to give you an opinion today.”
As an aside, one has to wonder how Jeff Sessions ‘opposed’ the reinterpretation of the Wire Act if he had not carefully studied the memorandum in the first place. This is in reference to his statement that he would make a decision about revisiting the interpretation, “based on careful study”.
It is also interesting to note that Jacob Sullum, in his blog Is Jeff Sessions Ready to Ban Internet Gambling by DOJ Fiat? points out that there is absolutely no record of the AG nominee actually opposing the DOJ memo when it was published in 2011.
“A search of his office’s website turns up zero references to the Wire Act, and a Nexis search of news stories and transcripts since December 2011, when the memo was posted, finds no comments about it by Sessions,” writes Sullum.
