DOJ Officials Notify the White House of Their Concerns About Flynn

¶On January 26, 2017, Acting Attorney General Sally Yates contacted White House Counsel Donald McGahn and informed him that she needed to discuss a sensitive matter with him in person.¹⁴²¹⁴² Yates 8/15/17 302, at 6. Later that day, Yates and Mary McCord, a senior national security official at the Department of Justice, met at the White House with McGahn and White House Counsel's Office attorney James Burnham.¹⁴³¹⁴³ Yates 8/15/17 302, at 6; McCord 7/17/17 302, at 6; SCR015_000198 (2/15/17 Draft Memorandum to file from the Office of the Counsel to the President). Yates said that the public statements made by the Vice President denying that Flynn and Kislyak discussed sanctions were not true and put Flynn in a potentially compromised position because the Russians would know he had lied.¹⁴⁴¹⁴⁴ Yates 8/15/17 302, at 6-8; McCord 7/17/17 302, at 6-7; Burnham 11/3/17 302, at 4; SCR015_000198 (2/15/17 Draft Memorandum to file from the Office of the Counsel to the President). Yates disclosed that Flynn had been interviewed by the FBI.¹⁴⁵¹⁴⁵ McGahn 11/30/17 302, at 5; Yates 8/15/17 302, at 7; McCord 7/17/17 302, at 7; Burnham 11/3/17 302, at 4. She declined to answer a specific question about how Flynn had performed during that interview,¹⁴⁶¹⁴⁶ Yates 8/15/17 302, at 7; McCord 7/17/17 302, at 7. but she indicated that Flynn's statements to the FBI were similar to the statements he had made to Pence and Spicer denying that he had discussed sanctions.¹⁴⁷¹⁴⁷ SCR015_000198 (2/15/17 Draft Memorandum to file from the Office of the Counsel to the President); Burnham 11/3/17 302, at 4. McGahn came away from the meeting with the impression that the FBI had not pinned Flynn down in lies,¹⁴⁸¹⁴⁸ McGahn 11/30/17 302, at 5. but he asked John Eisenberg, who served as legal advisor to the National Security Council, to examine potential legal issues raised by Flynn's FBI interview and his contacts with Kislyak.¹⁴⁹¹⁴⁹ SCR015_000198 (2/15/17 Draft Memorandum to file from the Office of the Counsel to the President); McGahn 11/30/17 302, at 6, 8.

¶That afternoon, McGahn notified the President that Yates had come to the White House to discuss concerns about Flynn.¹⁵⁰¹⁵⁰ McGahn 11/30/17 302, at 6; SCR015_000278 (White House Counsel's Office Memorandum re: "Flynn Tick Tock") (on January 26, "McGahn IMMEDIATELY advises POTUS"); SCR015_000198 (2/15/17 Draft Memorandum to file from the Office of the Counsel to the President). McGahn described what Yates had told him, and the President asked him to repeat it, so he did.¹⁵¹¹⁵¹ McGahn 11/30/17 302, at 6. McGahn recalled that when he described the FBI interview of Flynn, he said that Flynn did not disclose having discussed sanctions with Kislyak, but that there may not have been a clear violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001.¹⁵²¹⁵² McGahn 11/30/17 302, at 7. The President asked about Section 1001, and McGahn explained the law to him, and also explained the Logan Act.¹⁵³¹⁵³ McGahn 11/30/17 302, at 7. The President instructed McGahn to work with Priebus and Bannon to look into the matter further and directed that they not discuss it with any other officials.¹⁵⁴¹⁵⁴ McGahn 11/30/17 302, at 7; SCR015_000198-99 (2/15/17 Draft Memorandum to file from the Office of the Counsel to the President). Priebus recalled that the President was angry with Flynn in light of what Yates had told the White House and said, "not again, this guy, this stuff."¹⁵⁵¹⁵⁵ Priebus 10/13/17 302, at 8. Several witnesses said that the President was unhappy with Flynn for other reasons at this time. Bannon said that Flynn's standing with the President was not good by December 2016. Bannon 2/12/18 302, at 12. The President-Elect had concerns because President Obama had warned him about Flynn shortly after the election. Bannon 2/12/18 302, at 4-5; Hicks 12/8/17 302, at 7 (President Obama's comment sat with President-Elect Trump more than Hicks expected). Priebus said that the President had become unhappy with Flynn even before the story of his calls with Kislyak broke and had become so upset with Flynn that he would not look at him during intelligence briefings. Priebus 1/18/18 302, at 8. Hicks said that the President thought Flynn had bad judgment and was angered by tweets sent by Flynn and his son, and she described Flynn as "being on thin ice" by early February 2017. Hicks 12/8/17 302, at 7, 10.Show full note

¶That evening, the President dined with several senior advisors and asked the group what they thought about FBI Director Comey.¹⁵⁶¹⁵⁶ Coats 6/14/17 302, at 2. According to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, who was at the dinner, no one openly advocated terminating Comey but the consensus on him was not positive.¹⁵⁷¹⁵⁷ Coats 6/14/17 302, at 2. Coats told the group that he thought Comey was a good director.¹⁵⁸¹⁵⁸ Coats 6/14/17 302, at 2. Coats encouraged the President to meet Comey face-to-face and spend time with him before making a decision about whether to retain him.¹⁵⁹¹⁵⁹ Coats 6/14/17 302, at 2.