Sally Yates told the White House that Gen. Flynn could be blackmailed by the Russians weeks before he was ousted

Testifying Monday on Russian interference in the 2016 election before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, former acting Attorney General Sally Yates said she had told the White House that ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had misled administration officials about his pre-inaugural discussions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak because, "to state the obvious, you don't want your national security adviser compromised by the Russians."

In her testimony, Yates said she told the White House on Jan. 26 that Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence about his relations with the Russians and that he could be compromised. Flynn was not ultimately ousted by the administration until Feb. 13. Yates added that the Russians knew Flynn had lied and "that created a situation ... where the national security adviser could be blackmailed."

President Trump fired Yates for declining to defend his first, since-withdrawn executive order limiting travel to the U.S. from several majority-Muslim nations, and after Yates warned Trump's White House counsel about the content of Flynn's pre-inaugural discussions. NBC News revealed Monday that in a meeting days after Trump took office, former President Barack Obama warned against hiring Flynn, who had been fired by the Obama administration. Jeva Lange

The Week

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