Trump fires acting US attorney general after she orders lawyers not to defend president’s immigration bans
It was another dramatic twist in the unusually raucous roll-out of Trump’s directive that put a 120-day hold on allowing refugees into the country
US President Donald Trump fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates on Monday after she refused to uphold his executive order banning entry into the US by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries and questioned the measure’s legality.
Yates, an Obama administration holdover, was ousted hours after she told Justice Department staff that Trump’s directive was inconsistent with the agency’s “solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right.”
The White House responded with a statement hours later that clearly reflected Trump’s anger. Using a word Trump has employed frequently to insult his opponents, the statement called Yates “weak on borders and very weak on immigration.”
“The acting attorney general, Sally Yates, has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States,” the statement said.
The Trump administration named Dana Boente, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to replace Yates as acting attorney general, according to the statement. Also an Obama appointee, Boente’s office handled prosecutions including the corruption case against former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell, a Republican whose conviction was thrown out last year.
The dismissal will raise pressure on Republicans to expedite Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama. Yates had been expected to stay on until Sessions was confirmed. But the firing will also embolden Democrats seeking to delay that process.