President Trump's new acting attorney general promises to uphold controversial travel ban

 
Acting Attorney General Sally Yates was fired on Monday night after she urged Justice Department lawyers to not defend President Trump's executive order on immigration — and the White House immediately replaced her with Dana Boente, a federal Virginia prosecutor willing to uphold the controversial order.

Boente, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, accepted Trump's nomination in a statement released by the White House.

"I am honored to serve President Trump in this role until Senator Sessions is confirmed," Boente said. "I will defend and enforce the laws of our country to ensure that our people and our nation are protected."

Boente, 62, later clarified in a statement released by the Justice Department that he will do his "sworn duty" and enforce Trump's widely rebuked immigration order, which has temporarily banned citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the U.S.

Boente had already spent over three decades working for the Justice Department when President Obama nominated him as the 60th U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in October 2015.



Trump fired Sally Yates after she urged the Justice Department to not defend the President's
controversial executive order on immigration.

 

A graduate of the St. Louis University Law School, Boente got a job as a law clerk for the chief judge of his home state of Illinois in 1982.

He joined the criminal section of the Justice Department's Tax Division two years later and worked within various tax evasion and fraud units until 2012, when Attorney General Eric Holder appointed him to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Boente has prosecuted several high profile political corruption cases, including one against former Republican Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell.

Acting AG fired after saying she won't defend Trump's ban
McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were indicted on federal corruption charges in January 2014 following a months-long investigation spearheaded by Boente. The former governor was sentenced to two years in prison on Jan. 6, 2015 for accepting unlawful gifts from political backers, but had his conviction vacated by the Supreme Court in June 2016.

Boente takes over for Sally Yates, who was fired on Monday.(JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)  

Attorney General Loretta Lynch appointed Boente to her advisory committee last February and praised him as a veteran prosecutor "dedicated to rooting out fraud."

"Dana Boente embodies the vision and leadership we need to empower our communities and strengthen our nation," Lynch said in a statement at the time. "Throughout his career…he has demonstrated his perseverance, his dedication and his wisdom. I have no doubt that he will be an outstanding addition to the Committee."

Boente has lived in Northern Virginia for the past 29 years.

After accepting Trump's nomination, Boente apparently locked his Twitter account. His office did not immediately return a request for comment from the Daily News.