The White House on Monday refused to say explicitly whether the president believes former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates should be blamed for the classified leaks that led to the removal of President Trump’s first national security adviser, even after Trump tweeted that senators should ask Yates about her possible involvement during her testimony later that afternoon.
“I think the tweet speaks for itself,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said when asked if Trump and others believe Yates is the source of the leaks.
Spicer noted Trump still has concerns about leaks of classified information and argued senators should ask Yates what she knows about such disclosures during their appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“The president’s made it very clear since he took office that that’s a big concern of his,” Spicer said of classified leaks to the media. “The idea that classified information made its way into the press is something that I think, while we’re asking all of these questions, is one of the ones that I think the senators should ask.”
Yates is scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday afternoon about the advice she passed to the White House in January, when she informed officials that Gen. Mike Flynn, then Trump’s national security adviser, misled the vice president and others about the nature of his pre-inaugural contacts with the Russian ambassador.
White House officials said they reviewed Yates’ findings and concluded there was no legal issue with Flynn’s continued employment in the administration.
However, a series of classified leaks soon blanketed the media, and Flynn was forced to resign after acknowledging that he had indeed discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador during the transition, despite telling Vice President Pence that he had not.
