January 30, 2017

Trump Just Fired the Acting Attorney General for Refusing to Defend His “Muslim Ban”

Sally Yates, an Obama appointee, was serving in the role while the Senate considers Jeff Sessions’ nomination.


Update 9:25pm ET January 30, 2017: Trump just fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates.

Here’s the statement from the White House:

 

 

A friend on Twitter points out that ironically the last Acting Attorney General to heroically stand up for the Constitution was…James Comey, without whom Donald Trump would not have won the White House.

Original post below.

Wow:

The acting Attorney General Sally Yates has told Justice Department lawyers not to make legal arguments defending President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration and refugees, according to sources familiar with the order.

Yates is an Obama appointee who is just serving in the role until Jeff Sessions (or whoever) is confirmed by the Senate. But this still sends a pretty clear message.

The New York Times got a copy of the letter she sent to DOJ lawyers.

“I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right,” Ms. 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.”

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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