The biggest takeaways from the Sally Yates hearing
Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates testifies that then-FBI Director James Comey went 'rouge' with the Michael Flynn interview; former DOJ Deputy Public Affairs Director Ian Prior reacts.
FBI agents arbitrarily used the Logan Act to interview former national security adviser Michael Flynn in order to "set him up to lie," former Justice Department spokesman Ian Prior said on Thursday.
“[Sally Yates] can spin it as a counterintelligence investigation all she wants, but the bottom line is they were using a law that nobody cares about, including every administration that comes in, they were using that to investigate Flynn and try to get him to lie,” Prior told “Fox & Friends.”
Prior, a former deputy director of public affairs at the DOJ, said that the 1799 Logan Act hasn’t led to a prosecution since 1852 and has led to zero convictions, yet it formed the basis to go after the Trump administration.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM ON FBI USE OF DISCREDITED STEELE DOSSIER, QUESTIONS FOR SALLY YATES
Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that when the FBI interviewed then-incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn in January 2017, it was done without her authorization, and that she was upset when she found out about it.
Committee Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked Yates about the circumstances surrounding the interview, particularly the actions of then-FBI Director James Comey.
"I was upset that Director Comey didn't coordinate that with us and acted unilaterally," Yates said.
"Did Comey go rogue?" Graham asked.
"You could use that term, yes," Yates agreed.
Yates said she also took issue with Comey for not telling her that Flynn's communications with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were being investigated and that she first learned about this from President Obama during an Oval Office meeting. Yates said she was "irritated" with Comey for not telling her about this earlier.
Prior said that it was FBI agent Peter Strzok’s idea to use the Logan Act.
“[Sally Yates] conveniently doesn’t remember that. She doesn’t remember any of that but she does remember that no attempt was made by Biden or Obama to influence the investigation. Well, Peter Strzok and his notes say very differently,” Prior said.
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“I wouldn't be surprised if Sally Yates is on the very short list of the attorney general in the Biden administration. She’s not going to go out there and do anything that is going to jeopardize his chances.”
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