Team Obama to the Rescue

Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch waded into the Sally Yates controversy Tuesday, praising the former acting attorney general’s “courageous leadership” after President Donald Trump fired Yates Monday evening.

Lynch, who served as former President Obama’s second attorney general, heaped praise on her former lieutenant for ordering the Justice Department to refrain from upholding the president’s temporary travel ban on foreigners from seven countries — a move legal figures across the political spectrum said was inappropriate.

“She was insubordinate. She deserved to be fired. What she did was disgraceful. Of course she doesn’t view it that way — because she is, in fact, a political hack.”

“With her decision not to defend the executive order regarding immigration, Sally Yates displayed the fierce intellect, unshakeable integrity, and deep commitment to the rule of law that have characterized her 27 years of distinguished service to the Department of Justice under both Democratic and Republican administrations,” Lynch said in a statement.

Yates had been a “holdover” from the Obama administration while Trump awaited the confirmation of his nominee, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.).

Yates worked directly under Lynch during her tenure at the Justice Department and her former boss heaped effusive praise on her Tuesday.

“[Yates’] courageous leadership embodies the highest traditions of the Department of Justice, whose first duty is always to the American people, and to the Constitution that protects our rights and safeguards our liberties,” Lynch stated.

Despite Lynch’s high praise for Yates, the former acting attorney general’s action incurred a slew of criticism.

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“She was insubordinate. She deserved to be fired. What she did was disgraceful. Of course she doesn’t view it that way — because she is, in fact, a political hack,” former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova said Tuesday on “The Laura Ingraham Show.” “This is a person of the extreme Left who should not have been anywhere near the decision-making process for this president.”

The statement from Lynch came just one day after Obama himself waded into the controversy.

“President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country,” spokesman Kevin Lewis said of nationwide protests, largely concentrated at airports. “Citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble, organize, and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake.”