Yates was days away from stepping down but
Acting attorney general Sally Quillian Yates, a longtime prosecutor from Atlanta, began her tenure as an Obama appointee two years ago by saying that pursuing justice was more important to her than bringing federal cases in court.
“We’re not the Department of Prosecutions or even the Department of Public Safety,” Yates said in May, 2015, the week after she was confirmed as Deputy Attorney General, the secondhighest ranking position in the Justice Department. “We are the Department of Justice.”
Yesterday, only days away from stepping down from her 27-year career in the Justice Department, Yates defied President Donald Trump, ordering federal attorneys not to defend the controversial immigration order issued at the weekend. Within hours, Trump fired her. Yates, 56, struggled with her decision over the weekend, said an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation. By yesterday, though, she had concluded that she could not ask her federal attorneys to defend the order. Yates could not be reached for comment.
She sent a memo to the civil division of the Justice Department and US attorneys across the country saying she was not “convinced” the order was lawful, and that the department “will not present arguments in defence of the Executive Order, unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so”.
Hours later, Yates received a handdelivered letter from the White House saying the President was removing her from office.
“She did what she believes was the right thing to do and then she gets fired for it,” the official said.
“This is not how she would have preferred to end her 27-year career. But she did what she had to do.”
Those who know Yates well said that her action was consistent with the independence and commitment to the rule of law they say she has exhibited throughout her career.
“For nearly three decades, Acting Attorney General Sally Yates has served presidents of both parties, defending the Constitution and holding terrorists and other criminals accountable,” said former Labour Secretary Tom Perez, who was head of the