White House rejects Flynn questions
Delay in firing drawing criticism
The White House on Tuesday dismissed questions about why President Donald Trump waited 18 days to fire national security adviser Michael Flynn after learning Flynn lied about contacts with the Russian ambassador, saying the person who delivered that message — then Acting Attorney General Sally Yates — was considered a “political opponent” of the president.
Yates, who was named by Trump to fill the attorney general job while the new administration awaited confirmation of Jeff Sessions, was “appointed by the Obama administration and . . . a strong supporter of [Hillary] Clinton,” Trump’s opponent in the presidential election, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters.
Asked how he knew that, Spicer said “it was widely rumored” that Yates would “play a role in the Justice Department” if Clinton had won.
He said Trump “made, ultimately, the right decision” to fire Flynn in mid-February after a thorough review. The decision came three days after the information about Flynn’s Russia contacts became public.
The Flynn case reemerged to dog the administration on Monday, when Yates testified to Congress that she met with White House counsel Donald McGahn on Jan. 26 and told him that Flynn was compromised and open to possible Russian blackmail.
The White House has said that McGahn immediately informed Trump. At McGahn’s request, Yates returned on Jan. 27 for further discussion.
But for the next 18 days, Flynn participated in highly classified meetings and activities in the White House, including Trump meetings and numerous telephone calls with foreign leaders, including a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Spicer’s description of the McGahn meetings, and explanation for the delay, diverged at several key points from that of Yates and other former senior Justice Department officials. While they agreed that McGahn, in his second meeting with Yates — on a Friday — requested transcripts and other evidence of Flynn’s conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, Spicer said the information was not made available until a week later.
Officials said McGahn viewed the material at the Justice Department.