Sally Yates (born 20 August 1960) was acting Attorney General of the United States from 20 to 30 January 2017, succeeding Loretta Lynch. She preceded acting Attorney General Dana Boente.
Biography[]
Sally Caroline Quillian was born in Atlanta, Georgia on 20 August 1960, and she received a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from the University of Georgia in 1982. In 1986, she earned her juris doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law, and she edited the Georgia Law Review while she was in law school. In 1989, she became an Assistant US Attorney, and she was a leading prosecutor in the case of anti-abortion terrorist Eric Rudolph. In 2004, she became an acting US Attorney, and she was confirmed as a US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia in 2010. On 13 May 2015, she was confirmed as Assistant Attorney General, and she decided to serve as acting Attorney General under President Donald Trump before nominee Jeff Sessions could be confirmed. On 30 January 2017, she was fired by Trump during the "Monday Night Massacre" as a result of her refusal to support his Executive Order 13769, which blocked Muslims from several North African and Middle Eastern countries from entering the USA.