Sources say choice to replace Flynn turns down offer,
Retired Vice Adm. Robert Harward has turned down President Donald Trump’s offer to become his new national security adviser, according to two people with knowledge of the decision.
Meanwhile, current and former U.S. officials said Michael Flynn, who resigned this week as national security adviser, denied to FBI agents in an interview last month that he discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country’s ambassador to the United States before Trump took office, contradicting the contents of intercepted communications collected by intelligence agencies, current and former U.S. officials said.
The Jan. 24 interview potentially puts Flynn in legal jeopardy. Lying to the FBI is a felony, but any decision to prosecute would ultimately lie with the Justice Department. Some officials said bringing a case could prove difficult in part because Flynn may attempt to parse the definition of sanctions.
A spokesman for Flynn said he had no response. The FBI declined to comment.
Harward would have replaced Flynn. One factor in Harward’s decision not to take the job was he couldn’t get a guarantee that he could select his own staff, according to someone close to Trump with knowledge of the discussions.
Other officials said his decision was motivated by financial concerns about leaving his job at aerospace firm Lockheed Martin, where he is now a senior executive, and the impact it would have on his family.
One senior U.S. official said that “family considerations changed his mind.” A friend of Harward’s added that he also was not fully comfortable with the quickly moving process.
The administration had hoped to name Harward to the position this week in an effort to soothe the turmoil rolling through the White House. Even before Flynn resigned, the administration was quietly wooing Harward. The hard-charging former Navy SEAL was at the White House on Feb. 8 and then again this week, according to an administration official.
Harward commanded high-risk operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and later parachuted into his own retirement ceremony from high altitude.
Trump suggested at a news conference Thursday that one of the reasons he felt he could let Flynn go was because he had a good replacement in mind, without naming that person.
“I have somebody that I think will be outstanding for the position,” he said.
Flynn’s troubles stemmed from his denial for weeks that his December conversation with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak involved sanctions the Obama administration imposed on Russia in response to its meddling in the U.S. election. In a recent interview with the Daily Caller, Flynn said he didn’t discuss “sanctions” but did discuss the Obama administration’s expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, which were part of the sanctions package it announced Dec. 29.