Trump hits back to stop defiance

♦ Lawsuit filed in Washington state against travel ban

♦ US diplomats circulate memo critical of immigration order

US President Donald Trump has fired the acting attorney general, a holdover from the Obama administration, after she ordered Justice Department attorneys not to defend his controversial immigration orders.

In a sharply worded statement, the White House called Sally Yates "weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration" and also criticised Democrats for not yet confirming the appointment of attorney general-designate Jeff Sessions.

"The acting attorney general, Sally Yates, has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States," the White House said in a statement.

"This order was approved as to form and legality by the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel," it said.

"Tonight, President Trump relieved Ms Yates of her duties."

Federal prosecutor Dana Boente will serve as acting attorney general "until Senator Jeff Sessions is finally confirmed by the Senate, where he is being wrongly held up by Democrat senators for strictly political reasons," it said.

With Trump's White House facing multiple lawsuits and worldwide opprobrium over an order banning migrants from seven Muslim nations, Yates had whipped the rug from under her boss in a defiant and damaging parting shot.

In a memo to Department of Justice staff, Yates -- a career government lawyer promoted by Barack Obama -- expressed doubts about the legality and morality of Trump's decree, which has prompted mass protests.

"My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is," Yates wrote.

"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," she added.

"For as 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's directive meant that the government, for a few hours, had no authorized courtroom representation in lawsuits challenging the ban, reports AFP.

It was a remarkable act of defiance against a tough-talking president who has showed little sign of brooking insubordination.

But in a statement issued hours after his appointment, Boente said he would defend the president's directive.

"Based upon the Office of Legal Counsel's analysis, which found the Executive Order both lawful on its face and properly drafted, I hereby rescind former Acting Attorney General Sally Q. Yates January 30, 2017, guidance and direct the men and women of the Department of Justice to do our sworn duty and to defend the lawful orders of our President," Boente said in a statement.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said he thought media reporting on the executive order had been "blown way out of proportion and exaggerated."

"These career bureaucrats have a problem with it? I think that they should either get with the program or they can go," he told reporters at his daily briefing.

Acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner, however, called the dissent channel an "important" vehicle to convey alternative views that Acting Secretary of State Thomas Shannon and the department as a whole "value and respect."

LAWSUIT AGAINST TRAVEL BAN

The top prosecutor in the state of Washington filed a lawsuit on Monday challenging as illegal and unconstitutional Trump's travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries and demanding an immediate halt to its implementation.

"No one is above the law -- not even the president," Attorney General Bob Ferguson told a news conference. "And in the courtroom, it is not the loudest voice that prevails. It's the Constitution."

Ferguson's lawsuit -- the first of its kind -- targets Trump, Homeland Security and high-ranking administration officials. It calls for key provisions of the president's executive order on immigration to be declared illegal and unconstitutional.

The complaint argues that the travel ban, which has been met with an uproar both in the United States and abroad, was separating and harming families "and undermining Washington's sovereign interest in remaining a welcoming place for immigrants and refugees."

Several major companies in Washington state, including Amazon and Expedia, filed declarations alongside the lawsuit explaining the fallout of the executive order on their operations and employees.

"Never has our system of checks and balances been more important," said Washington governor Jay Inslee, who joined Ferguson at the press conference.

"Until Congress takes this administration to task for the obvious moral and legal injuries suffered by innocent, law-abiding people entering our country, it is up to states to protect and promote the rights of the people who reside in our borders."

The suit urges the court to schedule a hearing on the matter within two weeks.

US DIPLOMATS PROTEST TRAVEL BAN

US State Department officials on Monday circulated a draft memo criticizing Trump's executive order on immigration, prompting a retort from the White House that they should "get with the program or they can go."

The draft memo in the "dissent channel," through which dissenting views are sent to the secretary of state and other top department officials, argued the policy would be counterproductive and damage America's image abroad.

"The end result of this ban will not be a drop in terror attacks in the United States; rather it will be a drop in international good will towards Americans and a threat towards our economy," said the draft memo seen by Reuters.

The document argued the policy would sour relations with the affected countries, inflame anti-American sentiment, and hurt those who seek to visit the United States for humanitarian reasons such as medical care.

"Moreover, such a policy runs counter to core American values of nondiscrimination, fair play, and extending a warm welcome to foreign visitors and immigrants," it added.