Thread: Justice Department will not defend Trump immigration order

JAN. 30, 2017, 4:00 P.M.

Justice Department will not defend Trump immigration order, top official says

David Lauter

The Justice Department will not defend President Trump's controversial immigration executive order in court, the department's acting chief announced Monday, an extraordinary move reflecting the deep divisions the order has caused within the government.

"My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts," acting Atty. Gen. Sally 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," she wrote. "Consequently, 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."

Yates, the deputy attorney general, is a holdover from the Obama administration. President Trump could fire her. But because his nominee for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions, has not been confirmed and no other senior Justice Department officials have been appointed, doing so would cause significant problems within the department.

Among other issues, Yates is the only person in the department currently authorized to sign warrants for wiretapping in foreign espionage cases involving the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

http://www.latimes.com/politics/wash...htmlstory.html

That's indefensible dereliction of duty threatening due process rights of the people of the United States. This is the United States and as Americans we have the constitutional right at all times to have our position defended in the courts.

UPDATE

White House spokesman Sean Spicer announced that acting Attorney General Sally Yates has been relieved of her duty after she sent a memo instructing Justice Department attorneys not to defend Trump’s refugee and travel order.

Trump fires acting AG after she declines to defend travel ban

CNN.com · 1 hour ago

Dana Boente, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, the White House said, and was sworn in at 9 p.m. ET, per an administration official.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

UPDATE

White House spokesman Sean Spicer announced that acting Attorney General Sally Yates has been relieved of her duty after she sent a memo instructing Justice Department attorneys not to defend Trump’s refugee and travel order.

Guess that sort of makes this thread obsolete.

Yes, and by today, the DHS press conference that was really very professional and informative, made the entire Democratic Party Protests obsolete.