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Article snippet: James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence. ■ Ms. Yates testified that she told President Trump’s White House in its early days that his first national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, was susceptible to blackmail. ■ Her testimony raises questions about how Mr. Trump responded to her concerns about Mr. Flynn, who was not fired until two weeks later, once Ms. Yates’s unease became public. ■ Mr. Clapper confirmed that British intelligence officials shared “very sensitive” information about Russian connections to Mr. Trump’s campaign. Ms. Yates said that in the first days of the Trump administration, she told the White House counsel that Mr. Flynn was susceptible to Russian blackmail. “General Flynn was compromised in regard to the Russians,” Ms. Yates said at the hearing. She testified that Mr. Flynn’s conduct was “problematic.” Though Ms. Yates did not publicly reveal her underlying concerns, she did refer to discussions about sanctions between Mr. Flynn and the Russian ambassador to the United States. The White House initially mischaracterized those discussions. Mr. Trump ultimately fired Mr. Flynn over those discrepancies. The White House assured the public that Mr. Flynn and the Russian ambassador had not discussed sanctions. Ms. Yates, a temporary holdover from the administration of President Barack Obama, knew otherwise. That is because the United States routinely intercepts and transcribes the phone calls of foreign diplomats. On J... Link to the full article to read more