washington former act u.s. attorney general sally yates say monday warn white house january then-national security adviser michael flynn compromise could vulnerable blackmail russia yates testify senate judiciary subcommittee hear focus primarily flynn shed much light aspects investigations allegations russia meddle 2016 u.s. election whether collusion president donald trump campaign moscow yates repeatedly decline discuss detail investigation public forum former director national intelligence jam clapper also testify say stand past assertions see evidence collusion also decline comment classify matter yates briefly lead u.s. justice department trump fire jan. 30 decline defend travel ban seven muslim-majority countries tell white house counsel mcgahn jan. 26 less week trump presidency flynn tell truth contact russia ambassador washington make first public statements issue yates say fear moscow could try blackmail flynn also know truthful conversations ambassador sergei kislyak u.s. sanction russia flynn retire general see potential trump vice president emerge central figure russian probe russia repeatedly deny meddle election trump administration deny allegations collusion russia yates tell hear concern national security adviser essentially could blackmail russians logic would tell want national security adviser position russians leverage say trump continue praise flynn wait 18 days yates warn flynn force resignation fail disclose content talk kislyak mislead vice president mike pence conversations several democratic senators question trump delay yates say meet mcgahn demonstrate understand serious .. nothing do certainly would concern section hear clapper describe accurate report guardian newspaper british intelligence officials become aware late 2015 suspicious interactions trump advisers russian agents information pass u.s. intelligence agencies yes accurate also quite sensitive clapper say yates holdover administration president barack obama obama warn trump president-elect give post national security adviser administration flynn republican surprise victory nov. election former obama aide say warn first report nbc news come discussion white house personnel white house spokesman sean spic tell reporters obama communicate concern flynn come surprise anyone give general flynn work president obama outspoken critic president obama shortcomings spic say obama push flynn 2014 job director military defense intelligence agency dia congressional committees begin investigate u.s. intelligence agencies conclude russian president vladimir putin order hack democratic political group try sway election toward trump main investigations conduct congressional intelligence committees although democrats clamor special prosecutor independent committee argue congressional committees partisan conduct credible probe monday hear trump take twitter bash media deny collusion director clapper reiterate everybody include fake media already knows- evidence collusion w/ russia trump say another tweet president seem denounce hear russia-trump collusion story total hoax taxpayer fund charade end ask fbi director jam comey testify house march 20 agency investigate potential link trump associate moscow attempt tilt election trump also use twitter hear insinuate yates leak information flynn media yates clapper swear oath never leak classify information question monday often break along party line republicans veer away russia focus issue whether obama administration improperly reveal name trump associate contain surveillance record senator john cornyn republican senate one handful grill yates objections trump travel ban trump fire yates defy white house travel ban policy trump say would help protect americans islamist militants former trump security aide russia blackmail risk ex-u.s. official