Tuesday's White House briefing will commence at 1:30 PM ET, at which point the press corps will pummel Sean Spicer for his inference that former acting Attorney General Sally Yates gave the White House a casual "heads up" about national security adviser Michael Flynn.
And by "heads up," Spicey apparently meant she talked to Donald Trump's White House counsel three times, explaining that Flynn was "compromised" and could be "blackmailed" by a subversive foreign power that had directed a targeted attack on our elections, otherwise known as Russia.
As Spicey explained on February 14, the day after Flynn resigned:
Just to be clear, the acting Attorney General informed the White House Counsel that they wanted to give a “heads up” to us on some comments that may have seemed in conflict with what he had sent the Vice President out in particular. The White House Counsel informed the President immediately. The President asked him to conduct a review of whether there was a legal situation there. That was immediately determined that there wasn’t.
1. Just to be clear, there was an 18-day gap between when Yates first informed the White House that a potential Russian mole had daily access to the nation's most sensitive intelligence and when he exited the White House. Eighteen Days. Explain that, please, Spicey. Thanks, in advance!
2. Since Spicer has repeatedly blamed Flynn's security clearance through the Department of Defense on the Obama administration, why didn't the Trump White House require Flynn to get a higher clearance through the CIA? We learned Monday that clearance had never been given granted to Flynn. As Bush/Obama alum James Clapper explained during Monday’s hearing:
The vetting process for either a political appointee or someone working in the White House is far, far more invasive and far, far more thorough than a standard [Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information] clearance process.
So why was Flynn ever allowed to be sitting in the situation room in the first place?
That’s just really just the tip of the iceberg, but they are two of the biggest questions the press corps will be flogging Sean Spicer with today.