Such innovation led to Flynn's eventual promotion to a three-star general, said Clapper.
Flynn was dismissed under President Barack Obama as defense intelligence chief before becoming an ardent supporter of Trump and eventually Trump's national security adviser.
Yates told the White House's Office of Legal Counsel that Flynn did discuss sanctions with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador, even though he told Pence that he didn't but couldn't prove it.
Republican members pointedly asked Ms. Yates and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who testified with her, whether they leaked the information to the media. Flynn had denied discussing with Kislyak the subject of USA sanctions on Russian Federation for the November election interference, but high-ranking Federal Bureau of Investigation and DOJ officials had recorded conversations between Kislyak and Flynn.
Yates raised her concerns to White House counsel Don McGahn, who alerted the president, Trump said in an NBC interview that aired Thursday.
The Senate intelligence committee Wednesday issued a subpoena to former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn for documents regarding his interactions with Russian officials.
"What if we had just dismissed somebody because a political opponent of the president had made an utterance?"
Democrats quizzed former Obama administration officials on Russian Federation, how former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn had been "compromised" and how the White House officials conducted themselves when confronted with the information.
Arctic Council Pressures Tillerson To Take Action On Climate Change
Trump, for his part, has voiced skepticism about climate change, which he's referred to in the past as a "Chinese hoax". The Arctic Council is an advisory body that promotes cooperation among member nations and indigenous groups.
"And that created a compromise situation, a situation where the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians".
When pressed, Spicer said Yates was "widely rumored" to have backed Clinton, although Yates was barred from any public political activity.
The real story is that the White House didn't fire Flynn until the Washington Post and other news organizations broke the stories about Flynn lying to Pence.
Flynn was sacked by Trump after less than one month on the job.
Yates testified that it was available when she called the White House's lawyer, Don McGahn, on January 30 - three days before the White House said it had access to it.
Flynn's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the subpoena. Sign up to our Telegram channel and we'll keep you up to speed! Flynn resigned February 13 after being asked to step down. Yates thought Trump's executive order that temporarily banned immigration from seven countries with predominantly Muslim populations and barred refugees from entering the United States of America was unlawful.
Clapper on Friday said Flynn's history as DIA director "is to some extent irrelevant", and the key thing to consider with his recent dismissal was the "trust between a president and a National Security Adviser".
Her intervention provoked an awkward new question that the White House will now have to answer.
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