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WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally …
Donald Trump Fires The Acting Attorney General Of The United States
Sally Yates said she’d refuse to defend Trump’s executive order on immigration.
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WASHINGTON ― President
Donald Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates on Monday night,
hours after she said the Justice Department would not defend Trump’s executive order on immigration.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that Yates had been relieved
of her duties. Dana Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of
Virginia, was named as acting attorney general.
Spicer’s statement said
Yates had “betrayed the Department of Justice” by refusing to defend
Trump’s order. The statement added that Yates, a career prosecutor who
Trump named as acting attorney general, is “weak on borders and very
weak on illegal immigration.”
Ryan J. Reilly / The Huffington Post
Boente will serve until Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is confirmed as attorney general.
The stunning move was
reminiscent of President Richard Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre” in
1973, when he fired his attorney general and deputy attorney general,
when they refused to dismiss Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor in
the Watergate case.
Earlier Monday, Yates wrote a letter
stating she could not enforce Trump’s executive order banning refugees
and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim nations and instructing
Justice Department lawyers not to defend the order.
“At present, I am not
convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with
these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the executive order is
lawful,” she wrote.
Trump responded in a tweet,
calling Yates “an Obama A.G.,” even though she agreed to serve as acting
attorney general under Trump, and criticized Democrats for “delaying”
the confirmation of Sessions.
Yates was nominated to serve
as deputy attorney general by former President Barack Obama, and was
confirmed to that position in May 2015. Trump’s administration made the
decision to appoint
Yates as acting attorney general as well as to allow top federal
prosecutors around the country who had been appointed by Obama to
continue serving.
Not long after the White
House’s announcement, there was a flurry of activity on the fourth floor
of the Justice Department building, located near the Trump
International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. Yates, accompanied by a
significant security detail including members of the U.S. Marshals
Service, was packing up her office into the evening. She declined an
interview request that was relayed through one of the individuals in her
entourage. Later, as a cart topped with boxes and bags was wheeled out
of her office, an officer asked, then told, a Huffington Post reporter
to leave the area.
Around 11 p.m., Yates quietly left the building.
Ryan J. Reilly/HuffPost
Read the White House’s full statement excoriating Yates and announcing Boente’s appointment:
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. This order was approved as to form and legality by the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel.
Ms. Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration.
It is time to get serious about protecting our country. Calling for tougher vetting for individuals travelling from seven dangerous places is not extreme. It is reasonable and necessary to protect our country.
Tonight, President Trump relieved Ms. Yates of her duties and subsequently named Dana Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to serve as Acting Attorney General until Senator Jeff Sessions is finally confirmed by the Senate, where he is being wrongly held up by Democrat senators for strictly political reasons.
“I am honored to serve President Trump in this role until Senator Sessions is confirmed. I will defend and enforce the laws of our country to ensure that our people and our nation are protected,” said Dana Boente, Acting Attorney General.
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