Acting US Attorney General Sally Yates – an appointee of former President Barack Obama – has told the Justice Department not to defend President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order on immigrants and refugees, according to several media reports on Monday.
Yates, who will be replaced by Trump’s appointee Jeff Sessions once he’s confirmed, denounced the executive order in a letter to Justice Department lawyers, saying it may not be lawful.
“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 said in the letter.
“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.”
"For as long as I am the Acting Attorney General…" pic.twitter.com/UpWbRJYaeL
— Marc Ambinder (@marcambinder) January 30, 2017
Trump’s executive action, authorized on Friday, calls for a temporary halt on all refugees coming to the US, and bars the entry of foreign nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries. The order has sparked protests in streets and airports across the country, and has been roundly condemned from members of both parties. Trump spent the day Monday vigorously defending the order.
Trump criticized Yates in a tweet Monday evening:
The Democrats are delaying my cabinet picks for purely political reasons. They have nothing going but to obstruct. Now have an Obama A.G.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 31, 2017
Yates’s directive is generally a symbolic one and will only be enforced until she leaves office. Sessions is expected to be confirmed later this week.
Het bericht Acting attorney general defies Trump, tells Justice Department not to defend refugee ban verscheen eerst op Business Insider.