Trump fires acting attorney general who defied immigration ban

(Jan 31): President Donald Trump fired the nation’s acting attorney general as the repercussions from the president’s executive order banning some immigrant travel to the U.S. continue to shake his administration in just its second week in office.

Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates, an Obama administration holdover, after she said in a message to staff on Monday that the president’s order was not consistent with the Justice Department’s “solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right.” She added that, “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.”

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in a statement Monday night announcing her dismissal that Yates had “betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States.” Trump had shot back at Yates’s message earlier, saying on Twitter that frustrated Democrats were obstructing his Cabinet picks and that they “now have an Obama A.G.,” a reference to Yates.

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