According to former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who was fired by President Trump on January 30 when she directly disobeyed his executive order barring immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries, Russia had “real leverage” over former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who resigned in February.
Leaks of U.S. surveillance revealed that Flynn misled Vice President Pence about the contents of a December phone call to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak; Pence later publicly repeated Flynn’s version of events. Flynn resigned on February 13.
Speaking to CNN, Yates stated, “I think that this was a serious compromise situation, that the Russians had real leverage … Whether he’s fired or not is a decision for the president of the United States to make, but it doesn’t seem like that’s a person who should be sitting in the national security adviser position.”
Yates denied leaking information to the media, asserting, “I did not and I would not leak classified information.”
Yates became acting Attorney General on January 20, the day Trump was inaugurated. When she was fired, the White House said she “betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States … Ms. Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration.”
Yates had stated regarding her position, “At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the Executive Order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the Executive Order is lawful … Consequently, for as long as I am the Acting Attorney General, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the Executive Order, unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so.”
But before she was fired, Yates informed White House Counsel Don McGahn on January 26 that the White House had been misled by Flynn about the nature of his calls with Kislyak before Trump took office; she warned that he could be blackmailed based on the answers he gave to the FBI. She reiterated that position earlier this month before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee.