Spicer claims the White House didn't act immediately on Flynn warning because Yates is a 'political opponent'

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published 9 May 2017

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer suggested Tuesday that the Trump administration waited weeks to heed former acting Attorney General Sally Yates' warning about former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn because Yates was "a political opponent." Claiming without evidence that Yates, a longtime Department of Justice employee appointed in the Bush era, was a "strong supporter of Clinton," Spicer argued it would have been "pretty irrational" if the White House "dismissed somebody because a political opponent of the president had made an utterance."

Yates testified Monday before Congress that she warned the White House on Jan. 26 that Flynn was "compromised with respect to the Russians" because the Kremlin knew he'd misled Vice President Mike Pence about his conversation with a Russian ambassador. Flynn was fired on Feb. 13.