Yates testified before Congress Monday, saying that she warned the White House that Flynn could be blackmailed
White House press secretary Sean Spicer speaks during the daily press briefing, Tuesday, May 9,2017, at the White House in Washington.
Sean Spicer on Tuesday defended the White House, following remarks former acting Attorney General Sally Yates had made during a congressional hearing a day earlier about former National Security Adviser Gen. Michael Flynn’s conduct and the Trump administration’s handling of the allegations about him.
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Spicer, the White House press secretary, said Yates had come to the White House on January 26. He said then she informed the White House counsel’s office that there were materials relevant to the situation involving Flynn.
“It wasn’t until about seven days later that they had access to those documents, ” Spicer said. “After that time, they did what you should do frankly – is an element of due process. Reviewing the situation. They informed the president right away after they were informed of her giving us a heads up. And ultimately the president made the right decision.”
He also said that Yates’ assertions about Flynn weren’t clear the first time she came to the White House.
“You have someone who you have to wonder why they are telling you something to the point where they had to come back a second time because what they were saying was unclear.”
Flynn was asked to resign from his position in February, Spicer said, because he had misled Vice President Mike Pence.
Spicer also slammed Yates, referring to her as “someone who is not exactly a supporter of the president’s agenda” and who was widely rumored to have supported Hillary Clinton for president. He said Yates was someone who “clearly showed by the fact that career [Justice Department] attorneys told her the president’s lawful order — that she should sign the president’s lawful order and then chose not to do it” and argued “that vindicates the President’s point.”
Testifying before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Monday, Yates, who was fired by the Trump administration after refusing to defend the original Trump travel ban, told lawmakers that she had warned the White House that Flynn “essentially could be blackmailed” because he had lied to his bosses about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U. S.
CBS News’ Jillian Hughes and Rebecca Shabad contributed to this report.
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