Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates appeared to agree that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was «compromised» by his interactions with Russian government officials.<\/b>
\n\u201cLt. Gen. Flynn remained national security advisor for 18 days after you raised the Justice Department\u2019s concern. In your view, during those 18 days, did the risk that Flynn had been or could be compromised diminish at all?\u201d Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) asked Yates after she outlined the information collected and passed to the Trump administration by the Department of Justice, which at that time was under Yates\u2019s authority as Acting Attorney General.
\u201cI know we were really concerned about the compromise here and that\u2019s why we were encouraging them to act, \u201d Yates told the Senate Judicial Committee\u2019s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism in response.
Ms. Yates\u2019s characterization of the events surrounding Flynn\u2019s resignation broadly comports with previous accounts in the media, but this was the first time she had described General Flynn as \u201ccompromised.\u201d Most notably, she and her fellow witness, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, remained mum about the leaks to the New York Times and Washington Post that turned the matter from an internal intelligence community investigation into a national political scandal.
\u201cWas the point that you were trying to make that General Flynn had compromised the security of the United States and possibly the government by what he had done, whatever that was?\u201d Feinstein then asked.
Yates responded, \u201cLogic would tell you that you don\u2019 t want the National Security Advisor to be in a position where the Russians have leverage over him. Now, what effect that had or could have had, I can\u2019 t speak to that, but we knew that was not a good situation.\u201d
Yates further explained that she was concerned Vice President Mike Pence had told the American people things about Flynn\u2019s conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that were not true, and that she and her colleagues at DOJ felt compelled to relay the information they had contradicting those statements to the White House.
\u201cYou were worried that General Flynn would be compromised. What did you think would happen if he were and how do you believe he would have been compromised, \u201d Feinstein asked Yates after questioning Clapper.
Yates further explained her view of the Flynn affair in response:
Monday\u2019s hearing was held to discuss the investigation conducted by four U. S. intelligence agencies, and ordered in December by former President Barack Obama, into Russia\u2019s attempts to influence the elections. It was from this investigation that the revelation which lead to National Security Advisor Flynn\u2019s resignation arose.<\/p>\n

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