During questioning from Sen. Lindsey Graham at today’s hearing on Michael Flynn and the Russia Investigations, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said that former FBI Director James Comey went “rogue” when setting up an interview of Flynn without her knowledge:
Former DAG Sally Yates told Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that when FBI interviewed then-incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn in January 2017, it was done without her authorization, and she was upset when she found out about it.https://t.co/s2wDrl76KX
— James A. Gagliano (@JamesAGagliano) August 5, 2020
But she also said she had concerns over Flynn’s conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak:
BREAKING: Sally Yates testified that she did not "authorize" a counterintelligence investigation of Flynn and that Comey went "rogue" in doing that, even though she said she was concerned Flynn was too conciliatory to Russian ambassador in intercepts of phone conversations
— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) August 5, 2020
The investigation into Flynn was “legitimate,” she told the committee:
.@SallyQYates keeps saying the investigation of @GenFlynn was "legitimate" even after agents recommended it be dropped Jan. 4, and @Comey told @BarackObama there was nothing in the transcripts Jan.5. What new evidence, prior to Jan. 24, made the investigation "legitimate"? #Yates
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) August 5, 2020
Watch:
At a Senate hearing on Crossfire Hurricane, @SallyQYates said she was upset @Comey "acted unilaterally" by setting up the interview with @GenFlynn.@LindseyGrahamSC: "Did Comey go rogue?"
Sally Yates: "You could use that term, yes." pic.twitter.com/J0Hvdqapj7
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) August 5, 2020
But she also said she, “I would never have signed [the Carter Page warrant] that I knew contained errors and omissions”:
Sally Yates says that she would not have signed the FISA warrant against Carter Page if she knew it contained errors:
"I would never have signed anything that I knew contained errors and omissions." pic.twitter.com/IReMuagcbY
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 5, 2020
And she testified that Obama and Biden “did not attempt to influence the FBI investigation of Flynn during a January 2017 Oval Office meeting with top national security officials”:
Sally Yates said today that Obama and Biden did not attempt to influence the FBI investigation of Flynn during a January 2017 Oval Office meeting with top national security officials.
Her testimony counters repeated insinuations by Trump and his allies. https://t.co/gv1GQlFGxo
— POLITICO (@politico) August 5, 2020
It was about national security, not politics:
Sally Yates testifies that Obama and his deputies focused solely on national security, not anti-Trump politics, in discussing what to do about Flynn’s dealings with Russia’s ambassador https://t.co/FfLI4uJgnK
— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) August 5, 2020
So, something for everyone here:
NEW: Obama Deputy AG Sally Yates says she wouldn't have signed Carter Page FISAs in 2016 & 2017 if she knew then what she knows now. Yates says she was “shocked” by the Horowitz report & said DOJ/FBI didn't meet "duty of candor" w/ FISA Court.@DCExaminerhttps://t.co/ymdfDHfPMc
— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) August 5, 2020
More from Jonathan Turley:
Sally Yates just testified that she would not have signed off on the surveillance of Carter Page if she knew what she knows now. That follows Rod Rosenstein saying the same thing. https://t.co/T8WiCzbbxN
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) August 5, 2020
…Yates also confirmed that the Logan Act was raised in the meeting with President Obama on Flynn. Yet she stated that the concern was that the Trump national security adviser had undermined the Obama Administration by encouraging them not to retaliate.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) August 5, 2020
Yates said that you could say that Comey "went rogue" in ordering the Flynn interview. Yates is struggling with the Logan Act issue since Flynn was speaking as the NS adviser who was coming into office in less than two weeks. Comey reportedly said the Flynn meeting was "legit."
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) August 5, 2020
However, Yates legitimately objected to the interruption of her efforts to answer. This is precisely what happened in the Barr hearing and both parties use this tactic. In the meantime, some of us would like to hear answers to these important questions.https://t.co/9QdX46DXgG
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) August 5, 2020
***
Join the conversation as a VIP Member