Sally Yates speaks during a formal investiture ceremony for Attorney General Loretta Lynch on June 17th, 2015. (Getty)
Sally Yates is about to testify before a Senate committee regarding what she told the White House about Michael Flynn and his alleged ties to Russia.
Yates, of course, was fired as U.S. attorney general in January 2017 by the Trump administration. She was about to leave the job anyway, as Jeff Sessions was Trump’s pick to replace Yates and Sessions had just not been confirmed yet. But her firing was still a dramatic turn of events during the Trump administration’s first month in office, and it will be revisited during Yates’ testimony today.
Here’s what you need to know about the relationship between Sally Yates and Donald Trump.
1. She Was Fired After Declining to Defend Trump’s Travel Ban
Sally Yates speaks during a press conference to announce environmental and consumer relief in the Volkswagen litigation at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC on June 28, 2016. (Getty)
In January 2017, Sally Yates said she would not defend President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration.
In a letter to the Department of Justice, Yates said that her responsibility is to ensure that the position of the department is legally defensible, and she could not defend Donald Trump’s order suspending immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries.
“In addition, 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,” she said in the letter, according to The New York Times. “Consequently, for long as I am the Acting Attorney General, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the Executive Order, unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so.”
Yates did not become convinced, and hours after sending that letter to the Department of Justice, Yates was fired.
Dana Boente was subsequently sworn in as acting attorney general until Jeff Sessions was confirmed on February 8th.
2. Trump Said She is ‘Weak on Borders’ & ‘Very Weak on Illegal Immigration’
President Donald Trump walks to a waiting Marine One helicopter while departing the White House on March 15, 2017. (Getty)
Upon firing Sally Yates, the White House released an extraordinary statement, which attacked Sally Yates and said that she is “weak” on the issue of immigration.
“Ms. Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration,” the statement read. “It is time to get serious about protecting our country. Calling for tougher vetting for individuals travelling from seven dangerous places is not extreme. It is reasonable and necessary to protect our country.”
The statement also said that Yates had “betrayed the Department of Justice” with her actions.
3. She Was Appointed by President Barack Obama
Sally Yates speaks alongside FBI Director James Comey and Chuck Rosenberg, acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, as they attend a new Implicit Bias Training program at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, June 28th, 2016. (Getty)
In its statement announcing her firing, the White House brushed aside Sally Yates as an “Obama Administration appointee,” clearly implying that she is a partisan Democrat who has a bone to pick with Donald Trump for political reasons.
It’s true that Sally Yates is a Democrat and was appointed by President Barack Obama. But Yates has served under Republican and Democratic presidents.
In fact, during her Senate confirmation hearing in 2015, Republican Senator Johnny Isakson praised Yates and called her a hero.
“Sally is a great hero of the state of Georgia for 25 years she’s been in the office of Northern District of Georgia prosecuting criminal on public integrity all kind of things like the Olympic Park bombing,” Isakson said. “For the last five years, she’s been the chief attorney, and she’s proved herself over and over and over again to be to be effective to be fair to be diligent and to be the kind of person that you would want representing you in the U.S. Attorney’s office.”
4. President Donald Trump Has Suggested That She Leaked Classified Information
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with King Abdullah II of Jordan in the Rose Garden of the White House April 5, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Getty)
Ahead of Sally Yates’ Senate testimony, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to suggest that Sally Yates has leaked classified information to the press.
“Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. Counsel,” Trump said.
Donald Trump in his tweet did not present any concrete evidence that Sally Yates has leaked classified information; many were surprised to see a president so casually accuse someone about to testify of having committed a crime.
According to The Washington Post, The White House tried to block Sally Yates from testifying today. The White House has publicly denied this.
5. Democrats Are Reportedly Trying to Recruit Her to Run for Governor
Sally Yates testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 8th, 2015. (Getty)
Sally Yates has never held political office, instead serving as a prosecutor and an attorney for most of her life.
However, ever since she wrote her letter against Donald Trump’s travel ban in January, many on the left have been championing Sally Yates, looking at her as someone who fearlessly rebelled against the Trump administration and stuck up for what is right.
Because of that, Georgia Democrats are reportedly trying to convince Sally Yates to run for governor in 2018, according to Politico.
“I don’t think you can think of any possible candidates in Georgia and not mention Sally Yates’ name right now,” Tharon Johnson, the national southern regional director for President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, told Politico. “She’s a symbol of hope and resistance when it comes to standing up to Donald Trump.”