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Ex-Obama official fired by Trump reportedly being floated for Biden's Attorney General

Sally Yates defied Trump's executive order banning refugees from entry into the U.S.

Published: November 18, 2020 2:19pm

Updated: November 19, 2020 8:30am

President Trump fired Sally Yates, who served in the Obama administration, from her post as acting attorney general in 2017.

The firing came after Yates instructed the Justice Department not to defend Trump's executive order banning refugees from entry into the United States.

Trump's executive order temporarily stopped the U.S. refugee program and banned all entries from seven Muslim-majority nations for 90 days, an order that was eventually extended to more countries.

“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,” Yates wrote in a letter to the department’s lawyers.

The Trump administration blasted Yates after her firing, saying she had “betrayed the Department of Justice.”

“Ms. Yates is an Obama administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement.

Now, she's reportedly on the short list to become attorney general in a Joe Biden administration, Fox News reported, floating several other names.

"Biden is considering several individuals to serve as the attorney general in his administration, including former Alabama Sen. Doug Jones, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Fox News is told," the network said.

A source also told Fox that Biden is also considering former Obama Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, whom the source said is also being considered to serve as secretary of Defense; former Obama Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorka, former Obama Homeland Security adviser Lisa Monaco, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Trump has continued to target Yates, writing earlier this year that he didn't believe she did not know what former FBI Director James Comey's agency was doing.

"Sally Yates is either lying or grossly incompetent. It is not possible she could have known so little about Dirty Cop James Comey (and others) from her high position in the Department of 'Justice.' The political Crime of the Century, and she had no idea what they were doing?" he wrote on Twitter.

He also wrote: "Sally Yates has zero credibility. She was a part of the greatest political crime of the Century, and ObamaBiden knew EVERYTHING! Sally Yates leaked the General Flynn conversation? Ask her under oath. Republicans should start playing the Democrats game!"

The clear animosity between Trump and Yates begs the question: Will Trump face legal actions if he is deemed the loser of the 2020 election?

Democrat Joe Biden, who several news agencies have declared the winner, reportedly doesn't want to do that, saying such an effort would consume a new administration and further divide the nation.

"Biden has privately told advisers that he doesn't want his presidency to be consumed by investigations of his predecessor, according to five people familiar with the discussions, despite pressure from some Democrats who want inquiries into President Donald Trump, his policies and members of his administration," NBC News reported on Tuesday.

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