Trump Fires Acting Attorney General

Cozen O'Connor
Contact

Acting attorney general, Sally Yates, was fired after she ordered Justice Department attorneys not to defend President Trump’s January 27th immigration Executive Order (EO). The EO restricts entry into the U.S. by refugees and nationals from seven different Muslim-majority countries. In a letter issued to the Justice Department on January 30, 2017, Yates stated that she was not convinced that the EO issued by Trump was lawful, saying “the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the Executive Order, unless and until I become convinced it is appropriate to do so.” Ms. Yates had been running the Justice Department while President Trump’s attorney general nominee, Jeff Sessions, is still awaiting Senate confirmation. In a statement released by the White House, it was announced that Dana Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia would fill her position. The White House statement went on to say Yates was “an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration” and that she “betrayed the Department of Justice.” On the same day, it was announced that dozens of U.S. State Department diplomats had circulated a memo objecting to President Trump’s EO.

 

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations. Attorney Advertising.

© Cozen O'Connor

Written by:

Cozen O'Connor
Contact
more
less

PUBLISH YOUR CONTENT ON JD SUPRA NOW

  • Increased visibility
  • Actionable analytics
  • Ongoing guidance

Cozen O'Connor on:

Reporters on Deadline

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
Custom Email Digest
- hide
- hide