Trump dismisses interim prosecutor for defying decree against Muslims

Washington, Jan 31, 2017 (AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed interim prosecutor Sally Yates after declaring that the Justice Department would not defend the decision to ban The entry into the United States of refugees and people from seven Muslim countries.

"Acting Attorney General Sally Yates has betrayed the Justice Department by refusing to enforce the legal order designed to protect citizens of the United States," the White House said in a statement.

"President Trump has replaced Yates with his duties and has appointed Dana Boente, district attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, to serve as acting attorney general until Senator Jeff Sessions is confirmed by the Senate."

In a memo, Secretary Sally Yates - who served as the number two cabinet in the Barack Obama administration - said she doubted the legality and morality of the presidential executive order.

"My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is legally defensible," Yates wrote in a widely distributed note to the American press.

"At the moment, I am not convinced that the defense of the decree is consistent with these responsibilities, nor that the executive order is legal," he added.

"As the interim prosecutor, the Justice Department will not put forward arguments in defense of the executive order, at least until it is convinced that it is appropriate to do so," he added.

Signed last Friday, President Trump's decree suspended the entry of refugees in the United States for a minimum of 120 days and citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days.

The Yates text means that the US government will not have representation in trials and lawsuits currently pending in the courts against the decree and its enforcement.

The action is far more symbolic, as it is likely that Trump's candidate to lead the briefcase, Jeff Sessions, will be quickly confirmed.

Sessions should receive support from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and then be confirmed in plenary at the House before taking office.

On Sunday, attorneys general from 16 states, including California and New York, called Trump's executive order "unconstitutional."

Along the same lines, the Defense Department has vowed to take action to secure the entry of Iraqis who have supported the US military in Iraq.

The Pentagon works on a list of names of Iraqis who have cooperated with the US military, "often putting their own lives in danger," spokesman Jeff Davis told a news conference.

According to Davis, the Department of Defense will seek to "ensure that those who have demonstrated their tangible commitment to the fight on our side and support us" are excluded from the decree.