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.
