What did he know?
The U.S. Congress needs to start its own investigations into Flynn’s ties with Russia.
Let’s cut to the point: What did the president know, and when did he know it?
Those are the questions that Congress needs to start asking about former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Flynn resigned Monday evening after being caught in a lie about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States.
Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, has said that Flynn left at President Donald Trump’s request. Kellyanne Conway, a White House adviser, has said that Flynn made his own decision.
The nation is still waiting for the Oval Office to get its story straight.
However, we do know that the Department of Justice told Trump on Jan. 26 that Flynn had misled federal officials about his interactions with the Russian ambassador, leaving him open to the risk of blackmail. The acting attorney general who briefed Trump was fired on Jan. 30. Flynn maintained top-level information access until the moment he left his office on Monday, after his duplicity became known to the public.
Why the delay? The Trump administration has provided its own series of reasons, but in just a few weeks we’ve learned that White House officials are more than willing to lie on camera. Was Trump aware of Flynn’s pre-inauguration contacts? Did the president know that Flynn was lying? Did Flynn’s short-lived access within the White House risk a compromise of national security? Congress needs to start digging.
Flynn, a former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency who was fired from the position under President Barack Obama, already stands as the third member of the Trump campaign to be forced out after ties with Vladimir Putin’s Russia were made public.
Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, received millions in off-the-books payments from the campaign of exiled proPutin Ukrainian president Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych. Manafort is reportedly under active investigation by the CIA, NSA and FBI.
Carter Page, a policy adviser to Trump, left the presidential campaign after he came under scrutiny for his connections with Russia.
Since the first day of this administration, our allies have worried whether it is safe to share information with U.S. intelligence agencies under a White House that maintains such close ties with Russia, according to Politico reporter Nahal Toosi.
That might even be a concern within our intelligence agencies themselves. Former National Security Agency analyst John R. Schindler has written that career agents simply don’t trust the president’s staff to keep secrets away from the Kremlin.
Congress needs to see how far this goes. The man at the center, Trump himself, has questionable financial ties to Putin and his circle of loyal kleptocrats. The nation doesn’t know the truth because, unlike every other president in the past 40 years, Trump never released his tax returns.
Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has called for the House and Senate intelligence committees to investigate Flynn. We’re waiting for Sen. Ted Cruz and the rest of the Texas delegation to join the senior senator. Elected officials have to choose their sides: Expose the truth or cover it up.
During the presidential campaign, Flynn riled up Trump’s crowds with chants of “Lock her up.”
What did the president know, and when did he know it? Let’s hope the answer doesn’t put Flynn’s election season slogan to the test.
Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has called for the House and Senate intelligence committees to investigate Flynn. We’re waiting for Sen. Ted Cruz and the rest of the Texas delegation to join the senior senator. Elected officials have to choose their sides: Expose the truth or cover it up.