Trump Falsely Accuses Former Acting AG Sally Yates of Committing “Greatest Political Crime of the Century”

X Facebook Email Flipboard Pinterest Print Reddit

President Donald Trump lashed out at former acting Attorney General Sally Yates in a tweet earlier this morning, accusing her of participating in “the greatest political crime of the Century.”

The president accused Yates of “leaking” a conversation with former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who would later plead guilty to a felony count of “willfully and knowingly” making false statements to the FBI, and agreed to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference.

“Ask her under oath. Republicans should start playing the Democrats game!” the president wrote.

The president’s attack comes as Yates, who was dismissed after refusing to defend his controversial Muslim travel ban, testifies as part of a Senate committee’s continuing inquiry into Russia’s interference in and subversion of the 2016 general election.

Yates voiced her concerns about Flynn in testimony three years ago, telling a committee that Flynn used his influence to give Sergey Kislyak, then the Russian ambassador to the United States, access to Vice President Mike Pence. She said she informed White House counsel Don McGahn that Flynn was “compromised” and vulnerable to potential blackmail by the Russians. She said Flynn had misled Pence about the nature of his conversations with Kislyak and that his conduct “was a whole lot more than one White House official lying to another.”

Yates’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee is ongoing.