Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates condemned Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy for accusing her and other members of the Justice Department of despising President Trump.
Kennedy, a Republican, delivered a contentious line of questioning to Yates, who was testifying Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign. Kennedy asked Yates if the FBI agents responsible for using the uncorroborated Steele dossier “despised” Trump.
“All of [the agents] hated Trump, right?” Kennedy asked.
“No, senator. They did not hate Trump,” Yates said. “I have to say, I have to speak up here for the career men and women of the Department of Justice.”
Kennedy said he wasn’t asking about the “career men and women” when he asked the question. He said that Yates and her fellow Justice Department officials under former President Barack Obama “tarnished the reputation of the FBI” with their treatment of the Trump campaign.
The exchange was one of several heated moments between the two. Kennedy said he would be “like a rock, only dumber,” if he had signed off on something based on evidence as flimsy as the Steele dossier. He said that Yates “didn’t do anything” to verify the dossier independently before signing off on the warrants.
Kennedy’s line of questioning prompted California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the committee, to demand that Kennedy allow Yates to defend herself against the “accusations being made.” Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the committee, agreed and yielded time to Yates.
Yates defended her handling of the situation by noting that the FBI was responsible for being the “fact-finders” during the FISA application process.
