President Donald Trump wasted no time finding an acting attorney general to defend his controversial immigration order.
The New York Times reports that the president appointed Dana J. Boente Monday night after he dismissed Sally Q. Yates for declining to defend his executive order on immigration in court.
Boente, who was serving as the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, told the Washington Post that he will order the Justice Department to move forward with the legal defense of the executive order against an increasing number of lawsuits from civil liberties groups and now one from Washington state.
“I was enforcing it this afternoon,” he told the Post. “Our career department employees were defending the action in court, and I expect that’s what they’ll do tomorrow, appropriately and properly.”
One of Boente’s first moves was to formally rescind Yates’ order and direct all department employees “to do our sworn duty and to defend the lawful orders of our President,” the Times said.
Boente, 62, will hold the position until the Senate confirms Trump’s controversial nominee for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.). The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on his nomination as soon as Tuesday before sending it for a full Senate vote.
Meanwhile, more than 100 State Department diplomats signed a memo opposing the president’s executive order. In bold letters, the document say, “This ban does not achieve its aims—and will likely be counterproductive.”
SOURCE: New York Times, Washington Post
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New Acting Attorney General Vows To Defend Trump Travel Ban was originally published on newsone.com
