Both Sally Yates and James Clapper said Monday they do not know how the Washington Post learned of a phone call that indicated former national security adviser Michael Flynn misled about his dealings with Russia.
During a Monday Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism hearing, both Yates, the former acting attorney general, and Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, said they did not know how the classified information was leaked.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said: “This is important to me. How did the conversation between the Russian ambassador and Mr. Flynn make to it to the Washington Post?”
“I don’t know the answer to that,” Clapper replied.
“Nor do I know the answer to that,” Yates said.
In February, it was reported that now-fired national security adviser Flynn privately discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn had first denied that he ever had such conversations.
In January, then-Acting Attorney General Sally Yates told White House counsel Don McGahn that Flynn was lying about the nature of his conversations with Russian individuals.
Yates told the panel Monday that Flynn “was compromised in regard to the Russians” and that she told the White House in the first days of the Trump administration that Flynn could be a blackmail target.
