Acting Attorney General Sally Yates was fired by President Donald Trump after she instructed the Department of Justice not to defend the recently signed executive order issuing a moratorium on immigration from seven countries presenting significant terror threats.

Taking action in an escalating crisis for his 10-day-old administration, Mr. Trump declared that Sally Q. Yates had “betrayed” the administration, the White House said in a statement. The president appointed Dana J. Boente, United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to serve as acting attorney general until Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama is confirmed. Ms. Yates’s decision confronted the president with a stinging challenge to his authority and laid bare a deep divide at the Justice Department, within the diplomatic corps and elsewhere in the government over the wisdom of his order.

Continue reading the main story “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,” Ms. Yates wrote in a letter to Justice Department lawyers.

.@POTUS has named Dana Boente, US Attorney for the Eastern District of VA as Acting Attorney General. Sally Yates has been relieved. — Sean Spicer (@PressSec) January 31, 2017

And the reference to The Apprentice tagline is a theme of many supporters of the President’s executive order and his firing of Yates.

#MAGA! https://t.co/ud3wLBCSLv President Trump has FIRED Acting AG Sally Yates for refusing to defend the Travel Ban! TRUMP TRAIN, NO BRAK… — D Ploribus Unum (@dreamedofdust) January 31, 2017

Hey, Sally Yates. You’re fired. You don’t do your job, you get fired, just like in the real world. #Tucker #TrumpMedia — Scott Presler VA (@ScottPresler) January 31, 2017

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Boente served as one of the attorneys who prosecuted former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell in his public corruption trial. He was nominated by has been the 60th U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) since his appointment by Obama in 2015.

The Washington Post indicates that Boente will agree to enforce the immigration order.



UPDATES by WAJ:

WH statement on firing of Sally Yates – syntax in this is pure Trump pic.twitter.com/cFhlvqCujc — Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) January 31, 2017

Fired Sally Yates letter devoid of legal argument. Reeks of moral preening, grandstanding. pic.twitter.com/J7RdnRrzxs — Brit Hume (@brithume) January 31, 2017

.@realDonaldTrump is to be commended for upholding the rule of law in firing the lawless Acting AG for politicization of Justice Department. — Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) January 31, 2017

It is fitting–and sad–that the very last act of the Obama DOJ is for the acting AG to defy the newly elected POTUS https://t.co/JiUCizK3bu pic.twitter.com/20Ph4lZRVh — Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) January 31, 2017



