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Trump fires attorney general for insubordination over entry ban

Trump fired Attorney-General Yates after she ordered Justice Department lawyers to stop defending his immigration ban.

In an extraordinary public showdown, President Donald Trump fired the acting attorney general of the United States after she publicly questioned the constitutionality of his entry ban and refused to defend it in court.

Yates’ refusal to defend the executive order was largely symbolic given that Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump’s pick for attorney general, will almost certainly defend the policy once he’s sworn in. He’s expected to be confirmed Tuesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee and could be approved within days by the full Senate.

Yates, a career prosecutor and Democratic appointee, directed agency attorneys not to defend the executive order. She said in a memo Monday she was not convinced it was lawful or consistent with the agency’s obligation “to stand for what is right.”

Trump soon followed with a statement accusing Yates of having “betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States.” He named longtime federal prosecutor Dana Boente, the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, as Yates’ replacement. Boente was sworn in privately late Monday, the White House said, and rescinded Yates’s directive.

Trump’s order pauses America’s entire refugee program for four months, indefinitely bans all those from Syria and temporarily freezes immigration from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. However, nothing has changed regarding immigration from the remaining 46 Muslim countries.

Federal judges in New York and several other states issued orders that temporarily block the government from deporting people with valid visas who arrived after Trump’s travel ban took effect and found themselves in limbo.

Yates on Monday said that she had reviewed the policy and concluded that it was at odds with the Justice Department’s mission. She said that though other lawyers in the department had reviewed the order, their review had not addressed whether it was “wise or just.”

“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,” Yates wrote in a letter.

Trump said the order had been “approved” by Justice Department lawyers. However, the department has said the Office of Legal Counsel review was limited to whether the order was properly drafted, but did not address broader policy questions.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer challenged those opposed to the measure to resign.

“They should either get with the program or they can go,” Spicer said.

By: AP