FALLOUT OVER FLYNN David Jackson and Kevin Johnson
Trump knew of allegations for weeks, press secretary says
President Trump knew for more than two weeks that former national security adviser Michael Flynn lied about his contact with a Russian ambassador and demanded his resignation because he could no longer trust him, the White House spokesman said Tuesday.
“The evolving and eroding level of trust as a result of this situation, and a series of other questionable instances, is what led the president to ask for Gen. Flynn’s resignation,” Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said.
Flynn’s resignation less than a month after Trump took office came as a growing number of Congress members sought an investigation into Flynn’s contacts with the Russians and those of the entire Trump White House, which has made improved ties between the two countries a cornerstone of the president’s foreign policy.
Trump and aides spent weeks evaluating allegations against Flynn and concluded that he misled Vice President Pence and others when he said he had not discussed then-pending sanctions on Russia with the ambassador from that country, Spicer and other officials said.
Pence echoed Flynn’s denials in a television interview and protested Flynn’s conduct in light of recent revelations. Vice President Pence didn’t know about Flynn’s actions until Feb. 9, multiple news outlets reported Tuesday, citing Pence’s press secretary, Marc Lotter.
Trump did not oust Flynn sooner, Spicer said in a White House news briefing, because
there was no proof Flynn had broken the law by calling Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Spicer said Trump did not authorize Flynn to call Kislyak about the pending sanctions from the Obama administration over Russia’s alleged involvement in last year’s elections.
“It was not an issue of law, it was an issue of trust,” Spicer said.
Members of Congress, including some Republicans, said Flynn’s departure underscores concerns about the Trump administration and Russian President Vladimir Putin, potential ties that are the subject of an FBI investigation.
Flynn’s forced resignation “is a troubling indication of the dysfunction of the current national security apparatus” and “raises further questions about the Trump administration’s intentions toward Vladimir Putin’s Russia,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
McCain cited “statements by the president suggesting moral equivalence between the United States and Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine, annexation of Crimea, threats to our NATO allies and attempted interference in American elections.”
Another prominent Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said on CNN, “Did Gen. Flynn act alone? I want to know what Russia is up to.”
Citing reports that the Justice Department warned the White House a month ago that Flynn was vulnerable to blackmail because he had misrepresented his talks with the Russian ambassador, Democrats and other Trump critics said they would continue to press Trump for an investigation of the incident.
“The Trump administration has yet to be forthcoming about who was aware of Flynn’s conversations with the ambassador and whether he was acting on the instructions of the president or any other officials or with their knowledge,” said Rep. Adam Schiff of California, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
Trump took to social media to protest news leaks. Not mentioning Flynn, Trump tweeted, “The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington? Will these leaks be happening as I deal on N.Korea etc?”
Trump declined to answer reporters’ questions about Flynn during a meeting with parents and teachers Tuesday morning.
Flynn’s departure, the first high-profile resignation of the Trump administration, started with a phone call.
In a conversation late last year with Kislyak, Flynn discussed sanctions the Obama administration placed on Russia over alleged involvement in the U.S. election, including leaks of emails from Democratic Party officials close to nominee Hillary Clinton.
Flynn initially denied discussing sanctions with Kislyak — a story repeated in public statements by Pence and other administration officials. Aides to the president said Pence played a role in discussions about what to do with Flynn.
“Misleading the vice president really was the key here,” presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway told NBC’s show Tuesday.
The content of Flynn’s conversations with the Russian ambassador emerged during the FBI’s investigation into communica- tion between former and current Trump aides and Russian government officials, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.
Sally Yates, acting attorney general during the Trump administration transition, was prompted to alert the White House counsel, Don McGahn, Spicer said. Other officials, including Pence, said they were assured Flynn’s pre-inaugural conversations did not include the subject of sanctions against Russia, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because officials were not authorized to comment on the matter publicly.
Fearing the content of conversations could be used against Flynn by Russian authorities as a form of blackmail, the official said the decision was made to raise the matter with the White House. It was unclear how the White House responded to Yates’ information, the official said.
Yates, a holdover from the Obama administration, was fired by Trump for refusing to defend his executive order to suspend immigration from seven Muslimmajority countries. That order, the subject of multiple court challenges across the country, is on hold.
The official with knowledge of the matter said the federal inquiry continues into the communication with Russian officials, though it was not clear what effect, if any, Flynn’s resignation would have on the investigation.
Shortly before Yates alerted the White House of inconsistencies in Flynn’s public statements about his conversations with the Russian ambassador — secretly monitored by federal authorities — FBI agents interviewed Flynn, the official said.
The official declined to elaborate on the interview but indicated Yates raised concerns about Flynn’s possible exposure to blackmail within a day or two after the interview.
The official declined to comment on whether authorities concluded Flynn’s statements were truthful. Lying to the FBI is a felony. At the White House, Spicer said Trump learned of the Justice Department’s concerns Jan. 26 and immediately asked McGahn’s office to investigate. Though there is no evidence Flynn broke the law, Spicer said, Trump believes Flynn misled Pence and others about the phone call. Spicer said Trump requested the resignation.
Although Trump named an acting national security adviser — retired three-star general Joseph Keith Kellogg Jr. — the White House has floated other names to take over the post full-time.
They include Robert Harward, a former deputy commander of U.S. Central Command and protégé of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, and retired general David Petraeus, a former CIA director who resigned after acknowledging he gave classified information to a biographer with whom he was having an affair.
In his resignation letter, Flynn said that because of the “fast pace of events,” he “inadvertently” gave Pence and others “incomplete information” about his call with the Russian ambassador. “I have sincerely apologized to the president and the vice president, and they have accepted my apology,” Flynn wrote.
Though he was a close adviser to Trump during his presidential campaign, Flynn was in trouble from Day One. Critics cited his ties to Russia and signs of disorganization within the National Security Council.
Flynn had been fired as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency by President Obama. He made himself a political target by campaigning aggressively against Clinton, leading Trump supporters in chants of “lock her up!”
Flynn’s tenure as national security adviser, less than a month, is by far the shortest for the influential position. President Ronald Reagan’s first national security adviser, Richard Allen, lasted almost a year.
Clinton weighed in on Flynn, retweeting a message from her former spokesman Philippe Reines that said Flynn spread “fake news.”
“The Trump administration has yet to be forthcoming about who was aware of Flynn’s conversations.” California Rep. Adam Schiff, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee