Spicer's attacks came a day after Yates told the Senate subcommittee that she warned the White House that Flynn, also fired by the Obama administration, had misrepresented his contacts with Russian officials and was potentially susceptible to blackmail by Moscow.
"Former U.S. President Barack Obama warned then-President-elect Donald Trump not to give the post of national security adviser in his administration to Michael Flynn who was eventually fired in a controversy about ties to Russian Federation, a former Obama aide said".
She added, "We believe that the Russians knew this and that created a compromise situation, a situation where the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians". (Republicans on the panel dutifully asked her, and former national intelligence director James Clapper, whether they had anything to do with such leaks; they said they did not.).
Spicer said that after the White House first viewed the evidence and materials on February 2, which were first flagged by Yates on January 26, there were various meetings and discussions that took place leading up to the request for Flynn's resignation on February 13.
Here's the most important thing: Spicer used the fact that Yates refused to enforce Trump's travel ban as evidence that she was a "political opponent" of the President and, therefore, that the White House was right to not simply take her word for it on Flynn. She told White House counsel Don McGahn on January 26, less than a week into Trump's presidency, that Flynn had not been telling the truth about his contacts with Russia's ambassador to Washington.
Asked why Trump continues to defend Flynn after giving him the hook, Spicer said the retired lieutenant general served the US honorably for more than 30 years and was asked for his resignation because he "misinformed" Pence, but beyond that he had an honorable career, served with distinction and Trump did "not want to smear a good man".
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Trump confidants say Bannon has been marginalized on major decisions, including Comey's firing, after clashing with Kushner. Furthermore, said the Times , Spicer has "failed to use the self-protective tools that savvier Trump aides have adopted".
It didn't seem like the most promising venue for memes, but yesterday's Senate committee hearing on Russian influence in the 2016 election provided two of them nevertheless. Journalists and social media users have come out against Trump and Spicer's statements about Flynn and the Obama administration. He's dismissed FBI and congressional investigations into his campaign's possible ties to the election meddling as a "hoax" driven by Democrats bitter over losing the White House. She told the committee that she sought to meet with White House officials as "a matter of some urgency" after seeing the intelligence intercepts.
Spicer defended the White House process in handling Flynn, even though the former National Security advisor wasn't immediately removed from duty after the warnings.
Yes, the President took his time to fire Flynn, and only after information of Flynn's actions became public.
That "leverage" the Russians supposedly had on Flynn was a stretch all along.
Just days after the inauguration, moreover, Yates used those same NSA transcripts to try to get Flynn fired, by warning the White House that he was "vulnerable" to Russian extortion.
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