Trump Fires Acting Attorney General Who Defied Immigration Ban

President Donald Trump fired the nation’s acting attorney general as the repercussions from the president’s executive order banning some immigrant travel to the U.S. continue to shake his administration in just its second week in office.

Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates, an Obama administration holdover, after she said in a message to staff on Monday that the president’s order was not consistent with the Justice Department’s “solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right.” She added that, “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.”

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in a statement Monday night announcing her dismissal that Yates had “betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States.”

The Trump administration named Dana Boente, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to replace Yates as acting attorney general, according to the statement.