Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates doubled down on her warning that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was susceptible to Russian blackmail.
Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates doubled down on her warning that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was susceptible to Russian blackmail.
‘I think that this was a serious compromise situation that the Russians had real leverage, ‘ Yates told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in her first sit-down interview since being fired from the Department of Justice, which will air fully Tuesday night.
Yates testified before Congress last Monday where she told lawmakers that she had warned White House counsel Don McGahn that Flynn ‘likely could be blackmailed by the Russians.’
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‘To state the obvious you do not want your national security adviser compromised by the Russians, ‘ Yates said at the time.
Yates had warned the White House that Flynn had lied to Vice President Mike Pence on discussing sanctions with the Russian ambassador, and Pence subsequently made public statements repeating those untruths.
‘And that this was a problem because not only did we believe that the Russians knew this, but they likely had proof of this information and that created a compromise situation, ‘ Yates said during her testimony.
Cooper wanted to know if Flynn’s actions were a firable offense.
‘You know, I can’t speak to a fireable offense, ‘ she replied. ‘It was up to the president to make that decision about what he was going to do, but we certainly felt like they needed to act.’
Yates reminded Cooper that she had told McGahn, who wanted to know if Flynn should be fired, that it wasn’t her call.
She added that while the decision to fire Flynn is up to the president of the United States ‘it doesn’t seem like that’s a person who should be sitting in the national security adviser position.’
As far as Flynn’s actions being illegal, Yates responded to CNN, ‘There’s certainly a criminal statute that was implicated by his conduct.’
She also stated that she wanted and expected the White House to act.
On her last day at the Justice Department Yates again spoke with McGahn, informing him that materials that showed Flynn’s culpability were available for the White House to look at.
Yates had been canned by Trump over her refusal to support his controversial travel ban executive order.
Cooper asked her ‘on a personal level’ if she was concerned when she didn’t see any action taken against Flynn.
It took the White House 19 days since Yates first warned McGahn about Flynn for the president to ask for his resignation.
‘Well, sure, I was concerned about it, but I didn’t know if perhaps something else had been done that maybe I just wasn’t aware of, ‘ she said.
She said it ‘absolutely’ was surprising that Flynn would sit in on a call between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, after she had warned the White House about his inappropriate Russian contacts.
After he was fired, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Flynn resigned over a trust issue, not a legal one.
Cooper asked if Yates agreed.
‘I don’t know how the White House reached the conclusion that there was no legal issue, ‘ she said. ‘It certainly wasn’t from my discussion with them.’
Cooper, pointing to accusatory tweets written by the president of the United States, asked Yates again if she had leaked information to the Washington Post.
The Post story seemed to have prompted the firing of Flynn, leaving questions remaining about what impact Yates’ warning had.
‘Absoutely not, ‘ the former top Justice Department official replied. ‘I did not and I would not leak classified information.’
Cooper pointed to a specific tweet from Trump, which seemingly accused Yates of being the leaker, and asked her to react.
‘There have been a number of tweets that have given me pause, ‘ she said.
Cooper asked if she wanted to elaborate.
‘No, ‘ the former acting attorney general said back.
