Sally Yates: Flynn Could Have Been ‘Blackmailed’

Former national security advisor Michael Flynn could have been "blackmailed" by Russia, former acting attorney general Sally Yates testified before Congress on Monday, echoing her earlier comments on Flynn. Yates testified that she met with White House counsel Donald McGahn twice to warn him of concerns about Flynn, who later left the administration after it was revealed that he lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his communications with Russia's U.S. ambassador. Yates testified that she took her concerns to the White House, after Pence publicly repeated false information on Flynn's communications with the Russian ambassador. Russian intelligence "likely had proof of this information and that created a compromise situation—a situation where the national security adviser could be blackmailed by the Russians,’’ Yates testified. “Finally we told them we were giving them all of this information so that they could take action.’’ Flynn did not step down from his White House post until 18 days after Yates first warned the White House that he could have been blackmailed.