https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/05/08/full-transcript-sally-yates-and-james-clapper-testify-on-russian-election-interference/?utm_term=.7a9bcd0d360c
YATES: That's right, because one of the questions that Mr. McGahn asked me when I went back over the second day was essentially, why does it matter to DOJ if one White House official lies to another White House official?
And so we explained to him, it was a whole lot more than that and went back over the same concerns that we had raised with them the prior day, that the concern first about the underlying conduct itself, that he had lied to the vice president and others, the American public had been misled.
And then importantly, that every time this lie was repeated and the misrepresentations were getting more and more specific, as -- as they were coming out. Every time that happened, it increased the compromise and to state the obvious, you don't want your national security advisor compromised with the Russians.
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YATES: Sorry about that. One of the -- one of the issues that Mr. McGahn raised with me in this second meeting that again was on the 27th, the day after the first meeting, was his concern because we had told him before that we were giving him this information so that they could take action.
And he said that they were concerned that taking action might interfere with the FBI investigation. And we told him, both the senior career official and I, that he should not be concerned with it, that General Flynn had been interviewed, that their action would not interfere with any investigation and in fact, I remember specifically saying, you know it wouldn't really be fair of us to tell you this and then expect you to sit on your hands.
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YATES: Well, we had wanted to tell the White House as quickly as possible and we're working with the FBI and in the course of the investigation but certainly, we did...
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WHITEHOUSE: And the first thing you know is that you have information that one thing was said and the White House is saying something different. And you know that that information irrespective of who is involved needs to get up to the White House quickly. And so at that point, the decision was made to do the interview so that that was locked down before you went up to White House counsel?
YATES: Right, so that that would not have a negative impact on the FBI investigation at that point.
And there was a request made by Mr. McGahn, in the second meeting as to whether or not they would be able to look at the underlying evidence that we had that we had described for him of General Flynn's conduct. And we told him that we were inclined to allow them to look at that underlying evidence, that we wanted to go back to DOJ and be able to make the logistical arrangements for that. This second meeting on the 27th occurred late in the afternoon, this is Friday the 27th. So we told him that we would work with the FBI over the weekend on this issue and get back with him on Monday morning. And I called him first thing Monday morning to let him know that we would allow them to come over and to review the underlying evidence.
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COONS: On January 24th, you just testified that National Security Adviser Flynn was interviewed by the FBI about his underlying conduct, and that that underlying conduct was problematic because it led to the conclusion the vice president was relying on falsehoods.
What was that underlying conduct? And are you convinced that the former national security adviser was truthful in his testimony to the FBI on January 24?
YATES: Again, I -- I hate to frustrate you again, but I think I'm going to have to, because my knowledge of his underlying conduct is based on classified information. And so I can't reveal what that underlying conduct is.
That's why I had to do sort of an artificial description, here, of events, without revealing that conduct.
COONS: I understand that.
On January 27th you just testified that you discussed with White -- White House Counsel McGahn four different topics, and one of them included the possibility of criminal prosecution of the former national security adviser, and what would the applicable statutes be.
What applicable statutes did you discuss, and in your conclusion, should the national security adviser face criminal prosecution?
YATES: Senator Coons, I'm going to strike out here, because, if I identified the statute, then that would be insight into what the conduct was. And, look, I'm not trying to be hyper-technical here. I'm trying to be really careful that I observe my responsibilities to protect classified information. And so I -- I can't identify the statute.
So the White House knew the FBI had been lied to by Flynn before Sally Yates was fired.
That's why they're stuck now and having to argue either
a) Trump knew Flynn lied but didn't realize it was against the law so he couldn't obstruct justice since he did not know lying to the FBI was unlawful (what an absurd sentence!! ...)
or
b) Trump knew Flynn lied but as president, Trump is above the law in terms of obstruction of justice
(that's probably all Trump has left to avoid impeachment ....)
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