White House Denies Preventing Ex-Acting US Attorney General Yates’ Testimony

The White House did not take any steps to prevent former Acting US Attorney General Sally Yates from testifying at the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee hearing on Russia and the 2016 presidential election scheduled for Tuesday, spokesman Sean Spicer said in a statement.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes cancelled the hearing scheduled for Tuesday which would have included testimony from Yates.

"The White House has taken no action to prevent Sally Yates from testifying and the Department of Justice specifically told her that it would not stop her and to suggest otherwise is completely irresponsible," the statement noted.

Adam Schiff, a Democrat and ranking member on the Committee, said in a statement earlier on Tuesday he questioned whether the White House contributed to the decision to cancel the hearing in order to prevent Yates from having to claim executive privilege on communications she had with the White House.

The Washington Post reported the White House told Yates most of her testimony would be barred from the hearing due to executive privilege, but Spicer called the story "entirely false."

On January 31, President Donald Trump fired Yates for refusing to enforce an executive order on immigration designed to protect the citizens of the United States.