Page 3 - aruba-today-20170503

A3
U.S. NEWS Wednesday 3 May 2017
AP source: Yates to testify on warning White House on Flynn

ERIC TUCKER to be true, the person said.
Associated Press White House officials have
WASHINGTON (AP) — For- said publicly that Yates
mer acting attorney gen- merely wanted to give
eral Sally Yates is expected them a “heads-up” about
to testify to Congress next Flynn’s Russian contacts,
week that she expressed but Yates is likely to testify
alarm to the White House that she approached the
about President Donald White House with alarm,
Trump’s national security according to the person.
adviser’s contacts with the Flynn resigned in Febru-
Russian ambassador, which ary after published reports
could contradict how the detailed Yates’s conversa-
administration has charac- tion with McGahn. White
terized her counsel. House officials initially main-
Yates is expected to re- tained that Flynn had not
count in detail her Jan. 26 discussed Russian sanctions
conversation about Mi- with Kislyak during the tran-
chael Flynn and to say that sition period, but after news
she saw discrepancies be- reports said the opposite,
tween the administration’s they then admitted that
public statements on his he had misled them about
contacts with ambassador In this June, 2016 photo, then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates speaks at the Justice Depart- the nature of that call.
ment in Washington. Yates is expected to testify to Congress on May 8, 2017, that she expressed
Sergey Kislyak and what re- alarm to the White House about President Donald Trump’s national security adviser’s contacts with Flynn was in frequent con-
ally transpired, according the Russian ambassador, which could contradict how the administration has characterized her tact with Kislyak on the day
to a person familiar with counsel. the Obama administra-
that discussion and knowl- (AP Photo/J. David Ake) tion slapped sanctions on
edgeable about Yates’s pre-empt the testimony. she was concerned Flynn’s result of the contradictions Russia for election-related
plans for her testimony. The Yates is expected to say communications with Kis- between the public depic- hacking, as well as at other
person spoke on condition that she told White House lyak could leave Flynn in a tions of the calls and what times during the transition,
of anonymity so as not to counsel Don McGahn that compromised position as a intelligence officials knew a U.S. official has said.q

Government ‘needs a good shutdown,’ frustrated Trump tweets

KEN THOMAS clear win for the American Yet Trump’s morning tweets in denying him much of blaming Senate rules for a
ANDREW TAYLOR people.” Late in the day, hardly signaled a win and his wish list despite being budget plan that merited
Associated Press the White House said he came after Democrats the minority party. They closing most government
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi- would indeed sign the bill. gleefully claimed victory sounded a note of defeat, operations.q
dent Donald Trump de-
clared Tuesday the U.S.
government “needs a
good shutdown” this fall to
fix a “mess” in the Senate,
signaling on Twitter his dis-
pleasure with a bill to keep
operations running. But
Republican leaders and
Trump himself also praised
the stopgap measure as
a major accomplishment
and a sign of his masterful
negotiating with Demo-
crats.
On the defensive, Trump
and his allies issued a flur-
ry of contradictory state-
ments ahead of key votes
in Congress on a $1.1 trillion
spending bill to keep the
government at full speed
through September. After
advocating for a future
shutdown, the president
hailed the budget agree-
ment as a boost for the mil-
itary, border security and
other top priorities.
“This is what winning looks
like,” Trump said during a
ceremony honoring the Air
Force Academy football
team. “Our Republican
team had its own victory
— under the radar,” Trump
said, calling the bill “a