Silke Jasso
Former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates was fired by President Trump in January after she refused to enforce his travel ban. Yates ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers to not defend the executive action.
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Yates appeared once again in the face of the Trump administration when she testified at a Monday hearing designed to explore any collusion between the Trump administration and Russia. During the hearing, Yates said that she attempted to warn the administration about former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who resigned only a few weeks into his tenure after admitting he had misled the White House about his communications with Russia’s American ambassador.
On Tuesday, journalists asked White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer why the administration went through with hiring Flynn despite warnings not only from Yates, but also former President Obama:
On White House response to Yates' warning about Flynn, @PressSec says she was "not exactly someone that was excited about President Trump." pic.twitter.com/xWtRqJ9oGo
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) May 9, 2017
After insinuating that Yates simply had not liked Trump’s presidency, Spicer said that Yates presented materials showing potential misconduct.
“Just because someone comes in and gives you a heads-up about something and says, ‘I want to share some information,’ doesn’t mean that you immediately jump the gun and go take an action,” he said. Spicer added that it would be unwise to dismiss a candidate on the word of a “political opponent.”
Spicer said that Trump “made the right decision” on Flynn.
He also recounted a timeline of Flynn’s resignation, but said that it wasn’t the time to “relitigate the past:”
.@PressSec on Sally Yates' testimony about Michael Flynn: "We're not going to re-litigate the past on this" https://t.co/aO2q9E8CTg pic.twitter.com/pU7mZBX7e5
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) May 9, 2017
