Trump announced last night that the U.S.’s acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, will be fired from her position after her refusal to enforce the Muslim ban. She believed the order was unlawful.
Trump fires acting Attorney General Sally Yates for “refusing to enforce a legal order” on immigration. Watch CNN: https://t.co/HAhU3MmiMf pic.twitter.com/dqNxaauP80
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) January 31, 2017
Trump’s statement said he “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 [sic] senators for strictly political reasons.”
Yates had been nominated by former President Obama and she took her responsibility seriously. “My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts,” she wrote. “In addition, I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right.”
Trump has replaced Yates with Dana Bent as well as replacing the Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The last president to fire an attorney general was Richard Nixon.
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