Sally Yates to testify at May 8 Senate hearing
Sally Yates to testify at May 8 Senate hearing
Story highlights
- Sally Yates was originally expected to speak to lawmakers last month
- That hearing was abruptly postponed amid accusation the White House didn't want her to testify
(CNN)Former
Acting Attorney General Sally Yates is set to testify May 8 before a
Senate judiciary investigation into Russia's interference in last year's
elections, her second congressional hearing at which she's scheduled to
testify within the span of a week.
Yates'
appearance before the Sen. Lindsey Graham-led Subcommittee on Crime and
Terrorism would mark her second time when the former Obama appointee
has been called to the Hill to testify on Russia's meddling. Yates has
been invited to testify at a public hearing of the House intelligence
committee to be scheduled after May 2. A date has not been confirmed
yet.
James Clapper, director of
national intelligence under former President Barack Obama, was also
scheduled to appear before the Senate judiciary subcommittee in the same
hearing as Yates.
Yates
was originally expected to tell lawmakers last month about phone calls
between President Donald Trump's former national security adviser
Michael Flynn and Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. But House
Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes abruptly postponed that hearing as
part of a maneuver with the White House, which ultimately ended in him
stepping away from the Russia investigation two weeks later and becoming
the subject of a House ethics probe himself. Clapper and former CIA
Director John Brennan had also been scheduled to appear before that March hearing.
The Washington Post reported last month that
the White House sought to block Yates' testimony, citing
attorney-client and presidential communications privileges -- but White
House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump had no objection to Yates
testifying.
The
House and Senate intelligence committees have been running the primary
investigations into Russia's meddling in the election and possible
coordination with Trump campaign aides. But other investigators,
including Graham, have been probing those connections as well.
CORRECTION:
This story has been updated to accurately reflect the timing of Yates'
appearance before the House intelligence committee.
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