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Trump says Sally Yates committed 'political crime of the century', Internet asks 'how many times have you lied?'

The Internet lashed out at Trump's tweet against Sally Yates in which he called her 'either lying or grossly incompetent'

Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates spoke out against current Attorney General William Barr's move to dismiss charges against President Donald Trump's first national security adviser Michael Flynn on Wednesday, August 5. She said that the FBI's interviews with Flynn were legitimate and called the Justice Department dismissal “highly irregular”, according to a CNN report.

On Wednesday, the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee called the former Obama administration official for its ongoing review of the Russia inquiry and the initial days of the investigation on Flynn, who later had pleaded guilty of lying to the FBI about his connection with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. According to USA Today, Flynn moved to withdraw that guilty plea in January, claiming the government had breached the plea agreement. While the sentencing was being awaited on that, in May, the Justice Department suddenly dismissed the charges. As per the CNN report, the Justice Department cited the prior testimony of Yates – who played a key role in alerting the White House about Flynn's calls with the then-Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak – for its decision to dismiss the case.

However, in her testimony, Yates vehemently defended the Flynn investigation as legitimate, referring to Flynn's ultimate decision to plead guilty, reports USA Today. But Yates did express her concerns about the FBI's conduct in the initial days of the Russia investigation, mainly with the then-FBI Director James Comey. Yates shared that there was a tense encounter with Comey following the 2017 Oval Office meeting and that she reprimanded the FBI director for not informing her of the intercepted Flynn conversations prior to the briefing with the President. She also informed that at that time, the agency wasn’t giving adequate briefings of its activities. As per the report, when Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C asked whether Comey had gone "rogue," Yates responded, "You could use that term, yes."

Trump didn't let go of this opportunity and lashed out at Yates on Twitter. The POTUS tweeted, “Sally Yates is either lying or grossly incompetent. It is not possible she could have known so little about Dirty Cop James Comey (and others) from her high position in the Department of “Justice”. The political Crime of the Century, and she had no idea what they were doing?”

But the Internet wasn't in a mood to support Trump. A Twitter user retorted, "How many times have you lied by now?"

Another mocked him by saying, "Trump says one American will get tested for the coronavirus each time he lies. The pandemic can be brought under control in a few weeks with this plan, many scientists are telling me."

Another user remarked, "IT'S ALL A DISTRACTION! You know who is both a pathological liar & grossly incompetent? Donald Trump! Each time he rants about someone else Trump is trying to get the focus off his own shady conduct. The "political crime of the century" is Trump's collusion with Russia & Putin."

A user pointed out, "It is not possible you were so close with Epstein and Ghos and yet weren’t connected to them."

Another claimed, "The crime of the century was just described by Ambassador Lewis Lukens when he recounted Trump's instructions to Woody Johnson to request the British Open be moved to a Trump property. Another quid pro quo for DJT, another violation of the Construction, another yawn from @GOP."

One user shared, "I pray that his loyal supporters know how badly he lies and what a horrible president he is, and have some other personal or subconscious reason for sticking up for him. It would be too sad to think that they really fell for his con and believe him. #TrumpFailedAmerica."

According to NPR, Graham focused on a White House meeting on January 5, 2017, when Obama pulled aside Yates, Comey, Vice President Joe Biden, and national security adviser Susan Rice. As per the report, notes from that meeting were released earlier this year, which indicated that Biden or someone else present brought up the idea of prosecuting Flynn under an obscure 1799 law, the Logan Act, that bars Americans from negotiating with foreign governments about policy differences without permission from the US government. As per the report, Graham asked, "Who brought up the Logan Act in the Jan. 5 meeting? Whose great idea was this?" Yates said she did not recall Biden saying anything, but Comey might have. "During the meeting, the president, the vice president and the national security adviser did not in any way attempt to direct or influence any kind of investigation. Something like that would have set off alarms for me, and it would have stuck out, both at the time and in my memory. No such thing happened," she was quoted as saying. 

The Republican lawmakers also prodded Yates about the Justice Department inspector general report which found numerous problems with the FBI's surveillance warrant applications for former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, according to CNN. According to the report, Yates said that she would not have signed off on the investigation had she known there were errors in the applications.