In a corner of a small, farm-to-table restaurant in Atlantas old meatpacking district, Sally Yates, the former acting US attorney-general, who was fired for her audacity in defying Donald Trump, is piling vegetables on to my side plate with a dollop of Southern charm.
Lets get you a . . . get a fork in. Lets just put some on a plate. Lets do a mini veggie plate for you, is that OK?
She has already picked up my fork and is scooping portions of corn succotash, fried okra and green spring vegetables from her plate on to mine. You came to my hometown and I need to make sure you have a good meal, she says, over my protestations that she save some food for herself.
Yates, who was Barack Obamas deputy attorney general, took over as acting head of the Department of Justice on January 20, the day of Trumps inauguration. She served for just 10 days before she lost her job for refusing to defend his controversial travel ban an executive order temporarily halting entrance to the US from seven mainly Muslim countries. The White House described her actions as a betrayal.
Yates was flying to Atlanta for a charity benefit on Friday January 27 when she learnt about the travel order, which had been issued without any warning to her or national security officials. Over the weekend, she agonised over what to do. On Monday, she told DoJ employees not to defend the order because she was not convinced it was lawful.
At about 9pm, Yates was still in her office when she heard a knock at the door and a telling pause. If it were just [my assistant] he would have knocked and opened at the same time but there was a knock without opening. Thats different. So I had a feeling. She was handed a letter from the president notifying her that she had been fired.
Overnight, Yates was catapulted into the limelight. Liberals see her as a heroine. Letters flooded into her home from young women, immigrants and others expressing their gratitude. Now, comfortably more than 600 miles from Washington, she has returned to her home in Atlanta, the place where she began her 27-year career at the DoJ.
Yates breezes into Miller Union at 12:29 and seems disappointed I am already seated at a corner table. Although she is one minute early, she says she doesnt like to be late because it sends the message her time is more important than someone elses. Dressed in a sleeveless mustard blouse and black trousers, her face is relaxed and slightly pink from an earlier run.
I notice eyes from a nearby table following her movements. It has been strange that after Im no longer in the position more people seem to recognise me than they did when I was in the job, she says in a gentle Southern drawl.
Ill be in the gym sometimes. I havent washed my hair in a few days, no make-up or anything like that and somebody will come up and want to do a selfie and Im just vain enough to think, God, I hate for this to be out there. But I also refuse to start wearing make-up to the gym, she laughs.
There have also been more poignant moments a few weeks earlier, an immigrant family approached Yates at a restaurant to tell her what her actions had meant to them. When people really look you in the eye and talk to you and thank you . . . that cant help but move you, she says. I recognise not everybody feels that way but, happily, the other people generally tend not to walk up and say anything to me.
We turn to the whirlwind of those intense days in late January. The day before the ban was announced, Yates had called a meeting with the White House counsel, Don McGahn, to alert him that Trumps national security adviser Michael Flynn might be subject to blackmail by Russia based on a December telephone conversation he had with the Soviet ambassador. Flynn was forced to resign soon afterwards.
It was such a blur. That whole 10 days was such a blur, she says. We didnt even eat lunch during this time because we were dealing with all the Mike Flynn stuff. I had been sitting in Don McGahns office that Friday afternoon. I was somewhat surprised nobody had told me about the travel ban while I was sitting there in the White House counsels office, she says.
Yates knew her open defiance of the order was risky. I wasnt stupid. I recognised there was a good chance of being fired, she says. Still, understanding that intellectually and processing that emotionally are two very different things . . . Its still sort of a punch in the stomach. Her eyes glisten as she recalls the moment. Im still comfortable with the decision I made, but I didnt want to be fired. Thats not how I wanted to end 27 years of service . . . 
Trumps order was issued under the auspices of national security, but many times during his campaign he had talked about the idea of a Muslim ban and Yates found she could not divorce the two sentiments. I came to the conclusion that it just wasnt true to say that it has nothing to do with religion, she said. Our constitution doesnt allow us to offer up a pretextual reason for something and then to actually have an unconstitutional reason to discriminate based on race or religion. Its core founding principle stuff, she explains.
Rather than resign, Yates felt she had to publicly fight the order. If I had just resigned, I would have protected my personal integrity. But it felt like an easy way out because it would not have protected the integrity of the Department of Justice. I felt like I wouldnt have been doing my job . . . that felt like the cowards way to approach this.
The waiter is lingering at our table for a second time. We havent even glanced at the menu. Yates orders an unsweetened iced tea, that trademark of the South. I follow her lead. My eyes light up at the fried catfish sandwich.
Really? Yates asks. Thats bolder than I am. Even I wont eat catfish.
She chooses the plate of seasonal vegetables, a delicious mix of classic Southern cuisine. You ought to try something thats quintessentially Southern, she says. So we add the corn and scallion hush puppies, a savoury fried dough dumpling with smoked chilli and lime aioli dipping sauce. If youre going catfish you can go hush puppy.
With the ordering out of the way, I ask how she came to her decision knowing the outrage it would prompt. One of the things that informed me is the difference between the DoJ and a law firm, she says. I know it sounds trite and self righteous but [at the DoJ] youre representing the people of the United States and the citizens of our country who are entrusting us to administer justice. Your job is not to win, its to do justice.
Yates was born into a family of lawyers. Her grandfather and father were judges. Her grandmother was one of the first women in Georgia to pass the bar exam, but because it was not acceptable at the time for women to practise law she instead ran the family legal practice. She was smart as a whip, just incredible. I wish she had lived to be able to experience some of this.
When she describes her family background as boring lawyers, I note that her sister, a conservative radio host, doesnt seem to fit the mould. So you found that? she laughs. Obviously we have different points of view. The two decided long ago not to discuss politics.
The hush puppies arrive and we break the warm dough apart, releasing a fragrance of onion and corn.
Yates grew up in Georgia and attended the state university. After graduating with a degree in journalism, she eventually joined the venerable Atlanta law firm King & Spalding. Her most formative case was her first trial in the 1980s in rural Barrow County, Georgia, in the same courthouse where her father and grandfather had tried cases. She was representing a 93-year-old, African-American woman in a land dispute with a neighbouring developer. Her client was so distrustful of the law that she carried the deed to her land in her dress as she worked the fields. The judge, jury and opposing counsel involved in the trial were all white.
I will never forget the look on my clients faces when they saw this all-white jury. [But] they came back and said, This property is yours, Yates recalls. It worked like it was supposed to in a town and a place where you might not have expected it to. I reckon thats the most important case Ill ever have.
Yates made a name for herself in Atlanta prosecuting a corrupt former city mayor and bringing charges against Eric Rudolph for bombing Atlantas Centennial Park during the 1996 Olympic Games. After that, her rise was swift. In 2009, Obama nominated her to be US attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. Six years later, she was called to Washington to serve as the deputy US attorney-general.
Our entrées arrive. The fried catfish is tucked into a bun with tartare sauce next to a handful of french fries. Its crispy and not at all oily. The vegetable plate is colourful and distinctive. I feel slightly envious, but not for long as Yates begins filling my side plate. OK, youve got to have these. These tomatoes are fantastic, she says, heaping brown heirloom tomatoes on to my plate. Are you allowed to eat off somebody elses plate during this?
Were meeting on the day that Donald Trump Jr released emails confirming a meeting he attended alongside Trumps former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law and senior adviser, with a Russian lawyer who purported to have incriminating information about Hillary Clinton. I note a parallel between the delayed revelation of this meeting and Flynns obfuscation about his meeting with the Russian ambassador.
Yates was called before Congress in May to shed light on Flynn and the travel ban. At the time she told the room that it wouldnt hurt to prosecute a few folks in connection with Russias meddling in the election. Comedian Stephen Colbert tweeted: Wonder Woman is in theaters June 2. But if you want a sneak preview, watch Sally Yates performance in front of the Senate.
I honestly dont know any more than what was in the news, Yates says. But to me thats why having Bob Mueller [special counsel for the Russia investigation] on board to do a really thorough investigation is so important. But people do need to recognise though that all Bob is looking at is whether theres evidence of a crime that was committed for impeachment purposes or prosecution. He doesnt look more broadly, because that isnt really the charge of the DoJ. I have great confidence in Bob. Hes obviously got his hands full.
Yates has kept a low profile since her dismissal. Shes been repairing her garden, which her two young rescue dogs, Scout and Nelly, who she calls her other children and the most destructive dogs of all time turned into a battlefield while she navigated DC. They have eaten everything . . . like rugs, a whole sofa, furniture. We finally had to get metal furniture [on the outside porch] because it was the only thing that they wouldnt eat, she says. I adore them.
I ask her whether she is thinking about a run for elected office. No, no, she says. Thats just not anything that Ive ever been drawn to. I think there are other ways to be able to hopefully have an impact. For example, Yates is passionate about reforming the prison system by investing in educational programming for inmates so they have options when they are released.
When she was deputy attorney-general, the US began a pilot programme to allow inmates to take courses using specially formatted iPads, but she is doubtful it will continue under current attorney general Jeff Sessions, who has taken steps to reverse Obama-era policies by directing prosecutors to be tougher on crime and to seek the strongest charges for drug offenders.
The waiter clears our plates and tempts us with dessert the house specialty is homemade ice cream sandwiches in three flavours, chocolate malt, sweetcorn, and caramel. Yates suggests we split one. I choose the caramel flavour. When it arrives, Yates cuts it in half. While the sandwich looks like a traditional childhood treat, it has a rich and sophisticated flavour. I devour it as Yates takes a few small bites.
Yates recently signed up for a Twitter account, but she does not expect to turn it into a megaphone. Im not going to think out loud on Twitter, she says. Nevertheless, the letters from immigrants, families and young women stirred an awakening, she says. She keeps by her bed a letter from a family in Oregon with a photo of their two-year-old son at the airport holding a sign, Immigrants and refugees welcome.
I feel a real responsibility now that I never really anticipated, she says.
How did she respond to letters from young women? It feels weird to talk about this, she says. There was always this delicate balance of wanting to be assertive but not be abrasive because you werent really accepted if you were a woman and you were considered too aggressive. I dont get the sense that younger women today have to worry about that as much as we did when I was coming up. Thats a really good thing.
The thought takes her back to the Womens March protesting the new president in January. She was shopping at a Whole Foods in DC when the store became overwhelmed with protesters.
I just stood back against the frozen food and just watched these young women carrying signs. They were so comfortable in their own skin, they were so comfortable that they had a view and they were expressing it and they werent the least bit sheepish. And I thought, this is great, this is how its supposed to be. So maybe were in a time when women are finding their voice.
