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| Dana Boente: Who Is the New Acting Attorney General? | Dana Boente: Who Is the New Acting Attorney General? |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| President Donald J. Trump appointed Dana J. Boente, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to be acting attorney general on Monday night after he dismissed Sally Q. Yates from that role over her refusal to defend his executive order on immigration in court. The abrupt dismissal of Ms. Yates and the appointment of Mr. Boente were the latest twists in a fast-moving crisis over the executive order. | President Donald J. Trump appointed Dana J. Boente, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to be acting attorney general on Monday night after he dismissed Sally Q. Yates from that role over her refusal to defend his executive order on immigration in court. The abrupt dismissal of Ms. Yates and the appointment of Mr. Boente were the latest twists in a fast-moving crisis over the executive order. |
| Mr. Boente (pronounced BEN-tay) is expected to serve as acting attorney general until Mr. Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, is confirmed. The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on his nomination as soon as Tuesday, which means Mr. Boente may be in his new role for a only matter of days. | |
| So, who is Mr. Boente? | So, who is Mr. Boente? |
| Career Civil Servant | Career Civil Servant |
| Mr. Boente, 62, has worked for the Justice Department since 1984 under both Republican and Democratic administrations. He served in the department’s tax division and held several positions in the Eastern District of Virginia. He also served as the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana from December 2012 to September 2013. | Mr. Boente, 62, has worked for the Justice Department since 1984 under both Republican and Democratic administrations. He served in the department’s tax division and held several positions in the Eastern District of Virginia. He also served as the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana from December 2012 to September 2013. |
| In October 2015, Mr. Boente was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and was confirmed by the United States Senate that December. | In October 2015, Mr. Boente was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and was confirmed by the United States Senate that December. |
| The district sprawls across a wide swath of the state. It covers six million people and often handles cases that touch on national security because its territory includes facilities like the Pentagon and the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency. | The district sprawls across a wide swath of the state. It covers six million people and often handles cases that touch on national security because its territory includes facilities like the Pentagon and the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency. |
| Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Boente clerked for a chief United States district judge, J. Waldo Ackerman, in the Central District of Illinois in 1982. | Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Boente clerked for a chief United States district judge, J. Waldo Ackerman, in the Central District of Illinois in 1982. |
| ‘Reliable Middle Child’ | ‘Reliable Middle Child’ |
| Mr. Boente may have become acting attorney general amid turmoil centered on the new Republican president, but he has been praised by members of both parties during his career. | Mr. Boente may have become acting attorney general amid turmoil centered on the new Republican president, but he has been praised by members of both parties during his career. |
| Former Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch affectionately praised Mr. Boente last February when he was sworn in as United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. | Former Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch affectionately praised Mr. Boente last February when he was sworn in as United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. |
| She called him one of the Justice Department’s “consummate utility players” and pointed to a string public corruption prosecutions he lead in Virginia and Louisiana. He oversaw the prosecution of former Gov. Robert F. McDonnell of Virginia, a Republican whose conviction was ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court, and of former United States Representative William J. Jefferson and former Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans, both Louisiana Democrats. | She called him one of the Justice Department’s “consummate utility players” and pointed to a string public corruption prosecutions he lead in Virginia and Louisiana. He oversaw the prosecution of former Gov. Robert F. McDonnell of Virginia, a Republican whose conviction was ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court, and of former United States Representative William J. Jefferson and former Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans, both Louisiana Democrats. |
| “He is that reliable middle child, the one you could always count on to be there for you,” Ms. Lynch said, according to The Washington Post. | “He is that reliable middle child, the one you could always count on to be there for you,” Ms. Lynch said, according to The Washington Post. |
| ‘Seniority and Loyalty’ | ‘Seniority and Loyalty’ |
| Mr. Trump appears to have found Mr. Boente to be similarly reliable. | Mr. Trump appears to have found Mr. Boente to be similarly reliable. |
| Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for the United States attorney’s office in Alexandria, Va., said Mr. Boente had no hesitation about accepting the acting attorney general’s job, given his “seniority and loyalty” to the department. | Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for the United States attorney’s office in Alexandria, Va., said Mr. Boente had no hesitation about accepting the acting attorney general’s job, given his “seniority and loyalty” to the department. |
| Mr. Stueve also said Mr. Boente told the White House he was willing to do something that Ms. Yates would not: sign off on Mr. Trump’s executive order. | Mr. Stueve also said Mr. Boente told the White House he was willing to do something that Ms. Yates would not: sign off on Mr. Trump’s executive order. |
| In an interview with The Washington Post on Monday night, Mr. Boente pointed out that his office had already been defending the president’s executive order against a lawsuit brought in a Virginia federal court. | In an interview with The Washington Post on Monday night, Mr. Boente pointed out that his office had already been defending the president’s executive order against a lawsuit brought in a Virginia federal court. |
| “I was enforcing it this afternoon,” Mr. Boente told The Post. “Our career department employees were defending the action in court, and I expect that’s what they’ll do tomorrow, appropriately and properly.” | “I was enforcing it this afternoon,” Mr. Boente told The Post. “Our career department employees were defending the action in court, and I expect that’s what they’ll do tomorrow, appropriately and properly.” |
| Indeed, shortly before midnight on Monday, Mr. Boente rescinded the guidance Ms. Yates had given department lawyers earlier in the evening and formally ordered them to defend the president’s immigration ban. | Indeed, shortly before midnight on Monday, Mr. Boente rescinded the guidance Ms. Yates had given department lawyers earlier in the evening and formally ordered them to defend the president’s immigration ban. |