But there was another agenda in the packed hearing room apart from the allegations about Trump campaign ties to the Russians, an issue that has dogged the White House since its earliest hours.
WASHINGTON – The hearing was about Russian interference in the 2016 election. The star witness was former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who was fired by President Donald Trump in a dispute over the lawfulness of his abortive Muslim travel ban.
The blockbuster revelation: Yates had directly warned the White House that Michael Flynn, the Trump campaign’s top national security advisor, had lied about his contacts with the Russians and could be “blackmailed” as a result, compromising national security.
But there was another agenda in the packed hearing room apart from the allegations about Trump campaign ties to the Russians, an issue that has dogged the White House since its earliest hours.
Some Republicans on the Senate Judiciary panel, including both U. S. senators from Texas, turned to another line of questioning: Why had Yates overruled the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and directed the department’s lawyers not to defend the president’s executive order restricting travel from a set of predominantly Muslim countries?
“I thought the Department of Justice had a long-standing tradition of defending a presidential action in court if there are reasonable arguments in its favor, regardless of whether those arguments will prove to be ultimately persuasive, which of course is up to the courts to decide, not you, ” said Texas Republican John Cornyn.
True, Yates replied, “but in this instance all arguments have to be based on truth, because we’re the Department of Justice.”
Yates said she detected an unlawful discriminatory intent in the initial travel ban, which was struck down in court and eventually rewritten. “We are talking about a fundamental issue of religious freedom, ” she said.
Texas Republican Ted Cruz took up the same attack, suggesting that Yates’ decision was based on partisanship, not principle. “There is no doubt the arguments you laid out are arguments we can expect litigants to bring, ” he said, “partisan litigants who disagree with the policy decisions of the president.”
Yates, a nominee of former President Barack Obama, recalled that she had been pressed by Republicans at her 2015 confirmation hearings about whether she would go along with presidential directives that she thought were illegal or unconstitutional. “I said no, and that’s what I promised you I would do, and that’s what I did.”
Yates’ appearance was part of an ongoing probe by a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, one of several congressional investigations into alleged Russian meddling.
Cornyn, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that while the public has a right to know, “this is not anything new – although perhaps the level and intensity and sophistication of both Russian overt and covert operations is really unprecedented.”
Yates’ testimony came as reports swirled around the Capitol that Obama had personally warned Trump about hiring Flynn, information that amplified Yates’ testimony that she had told the White House days after the inauguration about false statements Flynn made to Vice President Pence and others about his discussions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
According to Yates, the false statements could have exposed Flynn to potential manipulation by the Russians. “The national security advisor could be blackmailed by the Russians, ” she said.
Flynn was forced to resign after just 24 days as Trump’s national security advisor.
Trump has repeatedly insisted that the idea that senior members of his campaign worked closely with Russian officials are “fake news, ” a theme he kept up on Twitter earlier Monday.
Trump accused the Obama administration of not properly vetting Flynn when he led the Defense Intelligence Agency. Under Obama’s tenure, Flynn was both promoted to lieutenant general and, three years later, reportedly forced to retire amid criticism of his management style.
“General Flynn was given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration, ” Trump tweeted, “but the Fake News seldom likes talking about that.”
Trump also attacked Yates on Twitter: “Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W. H. (counsel) .”
Trump offered no evidence for his suspicion that Yates leaked the information. In her testimony hours later, Yates repeatedly denied leaking any classified information about Trump associates and their alleged Russian ties.
Former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. also testified at Monday’s hearing. Lawmakers had invited another Obama administration official, former national security adviser Susan Rice. She declined.
“It seems to me there are a lot of questions that she needs to answer, ” Cornyn said.
Rice has come under withering criticism from Republicans who believe she helped “unmask” Trump associates mentioned in intelligence reports. She has denied any wrongdoing.
Yates had originally been scheduled to testify last March before the House Intelligence Committee. That hearing was canceled by the chairman, California Republican Devin Nunes, who has since stepped aside from the probe because of questions over his own contacts with the Trump White House.
Yates’ testimony Monday was preceded by months of legal wrangling about whether her conversations with White House lawyers were covered by presidential “communications privilege.”
Trump spokesman Sean Spicer, however, said the White House welcomed her testimony.
