A bipartisan group of more than 60 former federal prosecutors had issued a harshly worded statement Tuesday in support of former acting Attorney General Sally Yates.
They also said they could not have defended President Donald Trump’s executive order detailing a travel ban in court had they been asked to do so.
“Struck by one stunning headline after another, we stopped to think: If we were called upon to defend the executive order, could we do it within the guidelines we learned and lived by as lawyers for the United States? We could not,” the letter reads. “Acting Attorney General Yates was right to refuse to do so. If her successor wishes to follow in the finest traditions of the Justice Department, he will reverse course and do the same.”
The bipartisan group dates back to the 1970’s.
After Yates told Justice Department lawyers not to defend the travel ban, Trump promptly relieved her of her duties and installed Dana Boente, a US attorney, to serve in the acting capacity until Jeff Sessions, Trump’s nominee for the post, is confirmed by the Senate.
Yates had spent years defending Obama administration policies, championing changes to the criminal justice system and curtailing the federal government’s use of private prisons.