**Written by Doug Powers

Well, this escalated quickly:

President Donald Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates Monday night for “refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States,” the White House said.

“(Yates) has betrayed the Department of Justice,” the White House statement said.

Trump didn’t call Yates to dismiss her, she was informed by hand-delivered letter, according to a different administration official.

The dramatic move came soon after CNN reported Yates told Justice Department lawyers not to make legal arguments defending Trump’s executive order on immigration and refugees.

The acting AG didn’t seem to have much of a legal argument for her opposition, only political disagreement (via Hot Air):

Yates does not claim that she cannot defend the executive order because it is unconstitutional or because the Justice Department would be unable to offer good-faith arguments in defense of its legality. To the contrary, Yates claims she is ordering the Justice Department not to defend the executive order because it is not “wise or just.” This is quite significant. I am not aware of any instance in which the Justice Department has refused to defend a presumptively lawful executive action on this basis.

In other words, Yates can now safely be considered the front-runner for the Dems’ nomination in 2020.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe