Donald Trump dumps Attorney General Sally Yates, citing ‘betrayal’
DONALD Trump has fired his Attorney-General, labelling her “weak” over her stance on his controversial Muslim ban.
“YOU’RE fired!”
Donald Trump made a name for himself with those two words as the host of The Apprentice and now he’s back at it.
The US president has dumped his Attorney-General Sally Yates over her refusal to support a ban on Muslim immigration.
In a statement, the White House labelled the Obama Administration appointee “weak”.
“The acting Attorney-General, Sally Yates, has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States,” the document said.
“Ms Yates … is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration. It is time to get serious about protecting our country. Calling for tougher vetting for individuals travelling from seven dangerous places is not extreme. It is reasonable and necessary to protect our country.”
The president replaced Ms Yates effective immediately with the appointment of Dana Boente, who was US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Ms Yates issued a letter to her staff earlier on Monday.
“For as long as I am the acting attorney general, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the executive order, unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so,” she wrote.
The public break-up between the White House and a top Justice Department official has only occurred on a handful of occasions. The most well-known former split took place in 1973 when President Richard Nixon fired AG Elliot Richardson over his refusal to effectively investigate the Watergate scandal.
Ms Yates’ sacking comes less that a week after Mr Trump banned immigration from seven majority-Muslim nations including Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen. The Executive Order will remain in place for 90 days.
It was followed almost immediately by the dismissal of Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Daniel Ragsdale. He will be replaced by Thomas Homan.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer challenged those opposed to the measure — people like Sally Yates — to resign.
He said if “career bureaucrats have a problem with it ... they should get with the program or they can go”.
“If somebody has a problem with that agenda,” he added, “that does call into question whether or not they should continue in that post.”
In a previous statement, Mr Spicer said: “The president has a very clear vision. He’s been clear on it since the campaign, he’s been clear on it since taking office — that he’s going to put the country first.”
Speaking to the Washington Post, the newly-appointed Mr Boente said he expected his staff to enforce the executive order that President Trump himself dubbed ‘extreme vetting’.
“Our career department employees were defending the action in court, and I expect that’s what they’ll do tomorrow, appropriately and properly,” he said.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers within the Republican party sought to distance themselves from the wide-ranging order, AP reported.
Former president Barack Obama expressed his views on the ban on Monday. He said he supported those protesting against the ban, which he said contravened “American values”.
“President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country. Citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble, organise and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake,” spokesman Kevin Lewis said on Mr Obama’s behalf.
“With regard to comparisons to President Obama’s foreign policy decisions, as we’ve heard before, the president fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith and religion.”
Discord towards Mr Trump is coming from the party room and from abroad. On Monday, Baghdad called for the US to review what it labelled a “wrong decision” to ban Iraqis from entering the country, AFP reported.
“We reject... the decision to prevent the reception of Iraqis in the United States of America, and call for its review,” Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari told US ambassador Douglas Silliman, according to a statement on his website.
But “we (also) confirm our commitment to establishing better relations between Baghdad and Washington,” Jaafari said.
The foreign ministry demanded the US to “review this wrong decision”.
“It is very unfortunate that this decision was issued towards an allied state linked by strategic partnership with the United States,” it said.
Baghdad requested that US Congress pressure Mr Trump into reversing his decision. It called on the UN, Arab League and others to vocally and publicly do the same.
On social media, many praised the outgoing AG for standing her ground.
“History will look favourably on Sally Yates, who stood up for what she felt was right in opposition to the Trump Administration’s Muslim ban,” Kamala Harris, former Californian Attorney-General, wrote.
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