Trump's Talk About Muslims Led Acting Attorney General to Defy Ban

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Repeated comments from Mr. Trump and his advisers about barring Muslims from entering the United States were at the heart of her decision to refuse to defend the president’s executive order on immigration, senior officials involved said.

The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel had reviewed the order and signed off on its legality. But Ms. Yates and her staff lawyers believed that the department had to consider the intent of the order, which she said appeared designed to single out people based on religion.

Mr. Trump had campaigned on a promise to single out Muslims for immigration restrictions. One of his advisers, Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, said in an interview that Mr. Trump wanted a Muslim ban but needed “the right way to do it legally.” Mr. Trump said in a later interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network that Christian refugees would be given priority for entry visas to the United States...

“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,” Ms. Yates wrote in a letter to lawyers at the Justice Department, referring to her obligations as acting attorney general.

read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/us/politics/sally-yates-trump-immigration-ban.html?smid=tw-nytpolitics&smtyp=cur&_r=0

I think Ms. Yates was on solid ground in looking to 'intent' to determine whether Trump's order was defensible in court. After all, if actual legislation was at the heart of the dispute, Congress' intent would be an important factor in courts interpreting a law.

Guliani confessed, bragged that Trump was looking for a 'legal' way to ban Muslims. In both the language of the order advantaging Christians, and in Trump's own statements, there's good reason to reject the order as discriminatory and unconstitutional.

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What I'm looking for now is accountability by those House Judiciary staffers who secretly helped draft the order, unknown, apparently, to the committee leadership. They should be brought before the committee to question them about their activities and those of the WH leading up to the drafting of the Executive order.

...here's the report:

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