Eric Miller, the U.S. Attorney for the district of Vermont, is resigning his post on Friday, Feb. 10, according to a news release from his office.
The release didn’t name the reasons for Miller’s departure, though the announcement’s tone contrasted starkly with recent actions by President Donald Trump and other top national law enforcement officials.
The release included a quote from Imam Islam Hassan, the faith leader for the Islamic Society of Vermont, praising Miller’s work.
“Eric and his colleagues have worked to build bridges between their office and the Islamic Society of Vermont,” Hassan said in the release. “They have become familiar faces at our mosque, and we deeply appreciate their commitment to building relationships with our community.”
Meanwhile at the federal level, Trump’s executive order banning immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries is seen by many Americans as a “Muslim ban.”
"Eric and his colleagues have worked to build bridges between their office and the Islamic Society of Vermont. They have become familiar faces at our mosque, and we deeply appreciate their commitment to building relationships with our community." — Imam Islam Hassan, Islamic Society of Vermont
Shortly after Trump put the ban in place, he fired then-Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, an Obama administration appointee who told the Justice Department not to enforce Trump’s ban because she didn’t believe it was legal.
Miller cited Yates in his resignation announcement as well.
“Whenever I think about the core mission of this place, I always return to the formulation I first heard from Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates: Although much of our most important work involves prosecuting people who break the law, we are not just the Department of Prosecutions, or even the Department of Public Safety. We are the Department of Justice,” Miller said in the release. “And I know the men and women of this office will continue to work every day to deliver on the promise of justice for all Vermonters.”
Rutland Mayor Chris Louras is also quoted in the release showing appreciation for Miller's support for welcoming Syrian refugees to the Rutland community, a process that came to an abrupt halt as a result of Trump's immigration orders.
In a phone call Friday morning, Miller declined to provide additional comment about his resignation.
