Always the entertainer, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) got right to the blunt point in his Q&A with witness Sally Yates at Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Crossfire Hurricane, regarding the FBI probe into whether the 2016 Trump campaign colluded with Russia.
"You despise Donald Trump, don't you?" Sen. Kennedy directly asked Yates.
"No I don't," an offended Yates said.
On the other hand, during the hearing, Yates did say that she "doesn't respect the manner in which Trump has carried out the presidency."
Again, Sen. Kennedy wanted to know if she and her colleagues hated Trump.
"No, Senator, we did not hate Trump," she replied. "I have to say - I have to stand up here for the career men and women of the Department of Justice."
Yates insisted that political bias did not find its way into the department. She went so far as to say it would "shock" her if anyone in the agency was working to keep Trump out of office.
And yet, Sen. Kennedy noted, Yates was happy to sign off on a FISA application that relied heavily on the unverified Christopher Steele dossier. Instead of fact-checking the document, Yates chose to "rely" on the folks at the FBI.
"You're investigating a president of the United States, and you didn't check to see if it was accurate?" Kennedy fumed.
KENNEDY: "Tell me every step you took to verify the accuracy of the Steele Dossier."
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 5, 2020
YATES: "I relied on the FBI as the fact finders here and the lawyers in the national security division."
KENNEDY: "All of whom hated Trump, right?" pic.twitter.com/fXXrfrMrsF
Yates did admit that, knowing what she knows now, she never would have approved the FISA warrant.
As for President Trump, he didn't believe a word she said.
Sally Yates has zero credibility. She was a part of the greatest political crime of the Century, and ObamaBiden knew EVERYTHING! Sally Yates leaked the General Flynn conversation? Ask her under oath. Republicans should start playing the Democrats game!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2020