Way back at her confirmation hearing as deputy attorney general on March 24, 2015. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who informed Attny Sally Yates that a time might come when she would have to stand up to the executive branch. Monday night, acting Attorney General Yates was relieved of her duties by President Donald Trump after Yates announced that the Department of Justice would not defend Trump’s executive order on refugees and travelers from various Muslim-majority countries.
SESSIONS: You have to watch out because people will be asking you to do things you just need to say “no” about. Do you think the Attorney General has the responsibility to say no to the President if he asks for something that’s improper? A lot of people have defended the [Loretta] Lynch nomination, for example, by saying, “Well [Obama] appoints somebody who’s going to execute his views. What’s wrong with that?” But if the views the president wants to execute are unlawful, should the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General say no?
YATES: Senator, I believe the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General has an obligation to follow the law and the Constitution, and to give their independent legal advice to the president.
Like Sally Yates, William Ruckelshaus said ‘no’ to a president — and got fired
The Medina resident was deputy attorney general when he refused Nixon’s order to fire a special prosecutor assigned to Watergate. He talked about President Trump’s firing of the acting AG who defied him on immigration.