Sally Yates, former deputy attorney general, is seen testifying remotely during a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020, to examine the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., listens at right. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 10:24 AM PT — Thursday, August 6, 2020
Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates took the hot seat on Capitol Hill where she was grilled by GOP lawmakers. She made a video appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday to answer questions on the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which is better known as the Russia probe.
Yates continued to deny allegations that Obama-era White House was investigating then-president-elect Donald Trump and his advisers after Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) pressed her on a suspicious meeting former President Obama had with then FBI Director James Comey.
“That meeting was not about an investigation at all and I can tell you that is something that would have crossed the line,” said Yates. “And if President Obama or Vice President Biden or National Security Advisor Rice was in anyway trying to influence an investigation, that would have set off alarms for me.”
Senators were suspicious of why former President Obama seemed to know about Michael Flynn’s conversations with then-Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak before she did. Yates said the purpose of that meeting was to find out if the transition team needed to be careful about sharing sensitive information with Flynn.
Yates also later claimed that Comey did not consult with her beforehand and “went rouge” when he met with the president as well as when he had the FBI interview Flynn. That interview was what initially led to Flynn pleading guilty.
She then pivoted to defend the charges against Flynn by saying there was evidence that warranted the Obama administration’s skepticism of him. She referenced his alleged conversation with Kislyak.
However, Senate Judiciary chairman Lindsey Graham (R) maintained that, instead, Yates took issue with Flynn’s desire to change policy regarding Russia. He insisted the general was prosecuted based on politics.
“You didn’t like Flynn changing the policy or talking about changing the policy,” said Graham. “He had every right to do that and what we’re doing here is we’re criminalizing policy differences, that’s why Flynn got prosecuted because they hate his guts.”
Yates still denies knowing there were issues with FISA applications that she signed off on and denies knowing former associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr facilitated meetings between Christopher Steele and the FBI.
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