Obama appointee preventing DOJ from defending Trump visa Executive Order (Update: Fired)
Democrat delay in confirming Jeff Sessions paying off.
We have seen this picture before. A political position by the Department of Justice which abandons its obligation to defend a law or action of the government, as in the Defense of Marriage Act, in court.
The issue is not that personally DOJ attorneys have to agree with the law, or action of the government, but that DOJ is the government’s attorney and needs to provide the best representation possible. In the DOMA case, the House of Representatives had to go out and find private counsel.
That is happening again with regard to Trump’s Executive Order on visas and refugees, according to multiple reports.
Via CNN, Justice Department will not defend executive order on travel restrictions:
The acting Attorney General Sally Yates has told Justice Department lawyers not to make legal arguments defending President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration and refugees, according to sources familiar with the order.
Yates, an Obama appointee who is serving until Trump attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions is onfirmed, does not believe the substance of the order is lawful, according to the sources….
Currently, there are cases filed in at least five states including Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, ashington and California that are challenging Trump’s order.
The NY Times quotes the directive:
“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,” Ms. Yates wrote in a letter to Justice Department lawyers. “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.”
The decision is largely symbolic — Mr. Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, Jeff Sessions, is likely to be confirmed soon — but it highlights the deep divide at the Justice Department and elsewhere in the government over Mr. Trump’s order.
Mr. Trump has the authority to fire Ms. Yates, but as the top Senate confirmed official at the Justice Department, she is the only one authorized to sign foreignsurveillance warrants, an essential function at the department.
“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.
This is Yates at the unveiling of Eric Holder’s official portrait, at which time she showered accolades on Holder:
While Sessions may be in place soon, in the meantime there is litigation pending. Judicial decisions in the next few days could prove important. Trump needs to remove her immediately.
This is something I’ve worried about, that anti-Trump bureaucrats would attempt to undermine his administration for political reasons, thereby overruling the election.
Update: Trump responds on Twitter
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/826229971584708608
and NOW SHE’S FIRED (more to come in separate post):
.@POTUS has named Dana Boente, US Attorney for the Eastern District of VA as Acting Attorney General. Sally Yates has been relieved.
— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) January 31, 2017
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If she is unable or unwilling to defend the government’s position the administration should have someone else designated as “acting”.
Two words from Trump takes care of a political appointment.
“You’re Fired!”
It’s time for an update.
The witch was fired and replaced.
What took him so long?
Done.
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.@POTUS has named Dana Boente, US Attorney for the Eastern District of VA as Acting Attorney General. Sally Yates has been relieved.
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President Trump should fire her immediately. If a warrant needs to be signed then President Trump can sign it.
Exactly. I was about to post the same thing.
also, the constitution explicitly puts the executive power in the hands of the president. The president is the executive branch, and everyone there works for him and has to obey his orders and carry out his policies. If I were Trump right now I’d fire Yates, put someone from the transition team in temporary charge, with direct authority from me so there’s no need for confirmation, and give all DOJ lawyers an ultimatum: either pledge to defend the firm’s policy regardless of your own views, or resign.
Great comment. The President should fire her immediately and have her escorted out of the building. If she is not there change the locks, clean out her desk and revoke her security clearance.
The media is already dusting off the stories about Nixon firing AG Cox.
Done, it seems.
Same here. Sorry I made the same comment up above, since I was reading down the page……
Actually, the Attorney General is not an independent office. If ordered to defend the actions of the Executive Branch,by the President, Yates has two options: comply with the order or refuse and either resign or be removed from office. This the problem which can develop when a person from the previous administration is held in such a position. Especially when that person is philosophically opposed to the incoming President.
Trump should issue the order and, if she refuses to carry it out, fire her.
Sounds like the DOJ needs a cleaning like the State Department got.
Any employee what would show up for work in a “micro-mini skirt” needs to be canned imo.
To Not A Member of Any Organized Political:
I would agree with you on the skirt, but I might want to do that. 😉
Also, did you notice her shoes? That style is kind of a thing, for certain, ahem, people with alternate interpersonal relations interests.
Like the cleaning that just started at the State Department. There are a lot more treasonous officials to be removed there.
I don’t know how feasible this is, but I’d rather see the Senate use this to confirm Sessions immediately, and then HE should fire her. Let the Democrats know they’re not in charge anymore.
You’re absolutely right, Sessions needs to be put in place before ANYTHING more happens at all.
Could McConnell and the senate Republicans immediately change whatever rules need to be changed and bring Sessions up for a vote tomorrow or Wednesday? I suppose the Republicans would not go for that, because they need their time in front of the cameras.
In answer to your question, yes McConnell could change the rules, have the Senate Parliamentarian mark up the changes and hold a vote to change the rules. Would take about a day. Then they could approve sessions with a simple majority vote.
There are 2 things that are missing, a spine and testicles, 2 things that McConnell has proven repeatedly that he does not possess.
I wonder how McConnell’s wife feels about this hold-up of the Sessions appointment?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney_General
The United States Attorney General (A.G.) is the head of the United States Department of Justice per 28 U.S.C. § 503, concerned with legal affairs, and is the chief law enforcement officer and chief lawyer of the United States government. The attorney general serves as a member of the cabinet of the President of … He or she serves at the pleasure of the president and can be removed by the president.
So POTUS needs to request her “resignation” ASAP.
For presidential appointees, there’s no ‘request’ in that. He can simply pick up the phone and call the highest-rank career civil service employee in the chain of command over at the DOJ and state, “Miss Yates is now fired. Discontinue her email, cell phone, lock her office, retrieve the keys to her Government Owned Vehicle, reclaim her credit cards, and put an immediate lock on any projects she has access to, as of right now.”
No ifs, ands, buts, or coconuts.
What a sanctimonious little twit She is the same DOJ attorney who interferes in EPA inspections and causes the toes inspected to have to put together a Yates file meaning documentation of things that the EPA has no right to ask for but yet she sticks her little twit nose in Enforces it to be produced It is high time someone called her hAnd. I say fire her and if we need a warrant then we’ll figure it out then
I still support Trump, but this points out a serious miscalculation he made in issuing this order when he did. He should have waited til Sessions was in place; now I hope he and Bannon have the smarts to realize that Yates is intentionally trying to bait Trump into firing her, which would make this an even bigger stink than it is already, and delay Sessions confirmation even further.
I know that Trump likes to go big and move fast, but he moved way too fast on this one. Well, now we get to see if he knows how to handle a crisis.
Please, bait away. She’s gone soon anyway, but this would be a good opportunity to weed out any other DOJ staff who refuse to defend the president’s policies.
In fact, now that I think of it, there’s no need to fire her. Simply go over her head. Write directly to all DOJ staff countermanding her letter and instructing them to ignore it. any that won’t obey this instruction are gone.
Excellent suggestions!
Tweet or send it somehow to Trump!
Upon reflection, I realize you were right. This was open insubordination; she had to be fired immediately.
I do think she knew that, and probably had intended to resign as soon as Sessions was confirmed. Doing it this way made her a Rock Star to the loony left forever.
Not sure about that. Trump might very possibly go “two-for-one” and fire Yates at the same time he announces his SCOTUS pick. Lefties will go Full Scanners trying to figure out which action to get more outraged about.
P.S. A further cynical thought from a guy who voted for Trump.
DJT may well be baiting the left into doing something really, really, Grade AAA cosmically stupid ranging up to, and including, violence involving real casualties. Such an event would give him all the justification he’d need to (quite legally and with considerable public support) finally crack down on the Freakazoids.
“DJT may well be baiting the left into doing something really, really, Grade AAA cosmically stupid ranging up to, and including, violence involving real casualties. “
Is there anything he could do which wouldn’t put the left into a tizzy?
Professor, now that President Obama is no longer president, you can write about how the left is pure poison. You could write about the evils of the left.
Oh no, they might make a stink? I’d hate to see them do exactly what they’ve already been doing constantly for over a week now.
Who will Rid me of this troublesome Atty?
Historically…. this didn’t work out for anybody involved… some(one) more than others. As noted above… let the Left make the first mistaken move… The Left is playing a very dangerous game of waving the match near the gasoline they spilled all over the country. It reminds me of the ’60’s where the Left thought ANYTHING was better than what was going on….
“Who will Rid me of this troublesome Atty?” — The only problem with that technique is the left would have another martyr to rally around.
It seems to me that after a double-season of Obama, there are rebellious treasonous bastards who have infiltrated every level of govt. Words and logic only seems to ramp up their fury, not cool them off.
Obama’s DOJ is the most politicized DOJ in my lifetime. The republicans in congress need to get off their ass, stop playing nice and cram Sessions down the left’s throat. Sessions then needs to clean house and eliminate all Obama appointees. Any other employees who have shown in any way a desire to let politics influence their jobs need to be shown the door as well.
What Yates is doing isn’t heroic as the left claims, it’s highly unethical, even for a justice dept that replaced the Rule of Law with the Rule of Obama.
Agreed. This justifies a Tuesday morning massacre.
I think the best way to handle this would be to call her to the Oval Office for a “meeting” to discuss her position. I would be she would either leave defending the EO or she would leave and resign.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75SEy1qu71I
There’s actually no emergency here. If this delays the hemorrhage at the borders by a few days, that’s no huge deal. Trump has, say, a week at least to let the situation ferment, and maybe try to gather a bunch of eggs into one basket and smash them all at once. Or maybe fire her when he announces his SC pick. Or do it simultaneously with some other surprise. Lots of possibilities; I expect he’ll enjoy picking out a good one.
There are at least 5 cases pending against the administration, and undoubtedly some of them are before leftist federal judges. A lot of mischief could occur if the US is not immediately and enthusiastically represented in those cases.
This might be related …
Tin Foil Hats Actually Make it Easier for the Government to Track Your Thoughts
This is from The Atlantic, but I won’t link it it because they banned me (for what .. I have no idea)
You need to wear two … shiny side in to prevent your thoughts from being read, and then another with shiny side out to reflect mind control rays.
That’s why I try to envision Janet Reno naked every 15 minutes.
Neither the Democrats, nor the MSM, nor the current excuse for an Attorney General have control of the narrative any more.
The acting Attorney General Sally Yates’ theory that the executive order is unlawful demonstrably lacks basis.
Here is a copy of the executive order:
https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/5qreky/its_not_a_ban_on_muslims_the_words_muslim_islam/
Notice that the Executive Order cites its applicable authority:
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq., and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
Discussion of 8 USC Section 1182(f) and other things
https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/5qvigu/sorry_liberals_trumps_refugee_ban_is_100_legal/
Yes, we all know that THE MEDIA IS PERPETUATING HYSTERIA ABOUT THE EXECUTIVE ORDER.
https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/5qsxbv/the_media_is_perpetuating_hysteria_about_the/
And, yes, there are lawyers that chime in on Reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/5qvh91/lawyer_hereim_tired_of_the_media_falsely/
Notice that the discussion is at a political blog with 300.000 plus subscribers, technical but not necessarily lawyers. I deliberately cited Reddit to show that the MSM cannot control the narrative unless they make the narrative fit the facts. The Internet is having the same impact on the political system of the US as the printing press had on the religious system of Europe.
“The Internet is having the same impact on the political system of the US as the printing press had on the religious system of Europe.”
Astute observation, Valerie.
Thanks Valerie.
That’s Great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Judging by the smug look on her face, she probably anticipated getting fired and is simply looking for a way to publicize her ‘martyrdom’ to exploit it financially.
Don’t publicize her any more – DON’T fire her. Move her to Afghanistan.
THEN fire her. Better yet, task her with the prosecution of Hillary Clinton.
he he he
https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/826252730389954560
Now that didn’t take long.
and here is the pink slip.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C3d03TFUYAAH3fm.jpg
Americans 1. Anti-nativists 0.
Trump is pitching a perfect game.
In case you missed it, trump has fired her.
Good for him.
Oops, had this tab open for a while, didn’t see the update or the comments just above.
Trump has reportedly also fired the head of ICE and replaced him with Thomas Homan.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-30/trump-roll-fires-director-immigration-and-customs-enforcement
She should have been more professional and resigned rather than throw a temper tantrum. Of course her real crime is that she has shamed the respectable Yates family name.
The whole purpose of this ugly little exercise was to make Trump’s decision look illegal, fire up the left and keep them in the streets “protesting”. But the joke’s on her. They were going to continue regardless of her little stunt.
It’s never a good idea to sacrifice yourself on the altar of stupidity.