Story highlights Yates spent a long career in the Justice Department

She was fired Monday after refusing to defend Trump's executive order on immigration

Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates in January after she refused to defend his immigration order and touched off a major drama in the opening days of his presidency.

"The acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement.

But the former Justice Department official re-entered the news cycle Monday after a White House official confirmed that Yates warned the Trump administration last month that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn misled administration officials regarding his communications with Russia before entering the White House.

Intelligence agencies said Flynn had spoken to the Russian ambassador to the United States about sanctions imposed by former President Barack Obama and was potentially vulnerable to blackmail by the Russians, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.

Other top intelligence officials, including James Clapper and John Brennan, were in agreement with Yates that the White House should be alerted about the concerns.

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