Trump administration tried to keep Sally Yates from testifying before Congress about Russia

The Washington Post published today that the Trump administration "sought to block former acting attorney general Sally Yates from testifying to Congress in the House investigation of links between Russian officials and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, The Washington Post has learned, a position that is likely to further anger Democrats who have accused Republicans of trying to damage the inquiry."

In fact, according to the WP, the Trump administration, through the department of justice, "notified Yates earlier this month that the administration considers a great deal of her possible testimony to be barred from discussion in a congressional hearing because the topics are covered by the presidential communication privilege," even though Trump had fired Yates over month before, after she refused to defend Trump's first Muslim ban.

Yates was the one who originally warned that Trump's former National Intelligence adviser, Michael Flynn, could be blackmailed by Russia because of the conversations he had with Russian officials.

Congress has been interested in her testimony regarding the Trump campaign's ties with Russia. Yates's testimony to Congress would probably contradict statements given by the Trump administration in the matter.

On Friday, March 23, Yates's lawyer sent a letter to the White House indicating she still wanted to testify before Congress. That day, her hearing was cancelled by the Republicans.

That's not all. Trump's Department of Justice tried to argue that Yates was bound by attorney-client confientiality, and therefore she could not testify without the written consent of the Department of Justice.

Congress refuted the DoJ's claim saying there was nothing wrong with her disclosing non-classified information. After that, Trump's Departmet of Justice responded with a letter that claimed that Yates's conversations with the White House “are likely covered by the presidential communications privilege and possibly the deliberative process privilege. The president owns those privileges. Therefore, to the extent Ms. Yates needs consent to disclose the details of those communications to [the intelligence panel], she needs to consult with the White House. She need not obtain separate consent from the department."

In other words, the Trump administration changed their story about why they don't want her to testify before Congress.

But Congress refuted that claim as well, saying the executive privilege “has been waived as a result of the multiple public comments of current senior White House officials describing the January 2017 communications. Nevertheless, I am advising the White House of Ms. Yates’ intention to provide information."

After that, Republicans in Congress cancelled Yates's hearing. The one who cancelled the hearing was none other than Devin Nunes, who has been siding with Trump instead of being impartial in the Russia investigation. Nunes has declined to say if the White House asked him to cancel the hearing.