Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch praised Sally Yates’ “courageous leadership” for declining to defend President Trump’s immigration order.
Yates, who was the acting U.S. Attorney General, was dismissed by Trump on Monday after she refused to defend the president’s immigration executive order, and questioned its legality.
Yates “displayed the fierce intellect, unshakable integrity, and deep commitment to the rule of law that have characterized her 27 years of distinguished service to the Department of Justice under both Democratic and Republican administrations,” Lynch said Tuesday. “Her courageous leadership embodies the highest traditions of the Department of Justice, whose first duty is always to the American people, and to the Constitution that protects our rights and safeguards our liberties.”
Yates was nominated by President Obama to be the U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Georgia, and she became the U.S. Deputy Attorney General in May 2015.
Yates accepted a request from the Trump administration to be Acting Attorney General until Lynch’s successor — likely to be Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. — is confirmed by the Senate.
Trump replaced Yates with Dana J. Boente, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Boente, who will serve as attorney general until Congress confirms Sessions, immediately announced that he was rescinding Yates’ order.
