NEW: “We need to take away children,” AG Sessions told prosecutors, according to a draft DOJ IG report. That statement contradicts Sessions’ previous claim that “we never really intended” to separate children. w/ @shearm @ktbenner https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/us/politics/family-separation-border-immigration-jeff-sessions-rod-rosenstein.html

One top official told the IG, in implementing child separation policy DOJ officials were merely following orders from President Trump. In April 2018 meeting Trump was on “a tirade” as he “ranted” to Sessions and demanded as many prosecutions as possible, the official said.

Rosenstein told prosecutors when separating parents from children it should not matter how young children were, according to IG report. Rosenstein criticized prosecutors for refusal to take action that would have separated parents from children who were barely older than infants