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Yates: Russians Had ‘Real Leverage’ Over Flynn

Says Trump natsec adviser was in “serious compromise situation.”

Russian officials had “real leverage” over former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates told CNN. In a new interview with Anderson Cooper, Yates says Flynn was in a “serious compromise situation,” which led her to inform the White House. Before his dismissal, Flynn lied to Vice President Mike Pence, and Yates said there was “certainly a criminal statute that was implicated by his conduct.” At the end of January, Yates said she called White House counsel Don McGahn to warn him that Flynn could become a blackmail target for Russians, based on an interview he gave to the FBI. The White House has since said Flynn was fired due to a “trust issue,” not a legal one. “I don’t know how the White House reached the conclusion that there was no legal issue,” Yates said. “It certainly wasn’t from my discussion with them.”