PRESIDENT HIT WITH GROWING CRISIS OVER SECURITY ADVISER
National Security Adviser Michael Flynn lasted less than a month on the job before President Trump demanded his resignation Monday night. Here are the events that led to Flynn's fast fall:
Nov. 17: President Trump names Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn national security adviser.
Dec. 25: Flynn exchanges Christmas greetings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Dec. 29: President Obama announces new sanctions against Russia over hacking aimed at swaying the presidential election. Flynn and Kislyak have five phone calls.
Jan. 15: Based on Flynn's assurances, then-Vice Presidentelect Mike Pence on “Face the Nation” denies Flynn and Kislyak discussed sanctions: “What I can confirm, having spoken to him about it, is that those conversations that happened to occur around the time that the United States took action to expel diplomats had nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions.”
Jan. 26: The Department of Justice informs the White House — and Trump learns later that day — that Flynn may have misled the administration, based on information obtained by intelligence agencies.
Feb. 9: Pence is told of the Justice Department's warning on Flynn, having been kept in the dark for more than a week, according to NBC News.
Feb. 10: Flynn walks back his original comments, claiming he can't recall, but says it's possible he spoke about sanctions with Kislyak. Trump says about the matter: “I don't know about it. I haven't seen it. What report is that?”
Feb. 13: Flynn resigns after a daylong series of mixed messages from the White House. Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway first told MSNBC he enjoyed the president's full confidence. An hour later, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump was evaluating the Flynn situation.
Yesterday: Spicer tells reporters Flynn was not asked to resign out of legal concerns but “as a matter of trust” that had eroded between Flynn and both Pence and Trump.
Growing turmoil over the forced resignation of Michael Flynn and a looming Congressional investigation have shifted the focus squarely onto President Trump amid new revelations the White House knew about the former national security adviser’s discussion with a Russian official about sanctions against that country.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters yesterday it’s “highly likely” that the Senate intelligence committee, which is investigating Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election, will now probe Flynn’s conversations with the Russian ambassador.
Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of that committee, suggested Flynn would soon be called to testify.
“I think it’s likely that at some point General Flynn will be asked to come to that committee and talk about both post-election activities and any other activities he would be aware of,” Blunt said. “I think there are a number of unanswered questions that need to be answered.”
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the No. 2 House Democrat, went so far as to invoke the famous Watergate questions: “Who knew about this and when? Did the president know and when did he know it?”
Trump has already come under fire for appearing too cozy with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Democrats are still seething over allegations that Russian hacking during the presidential campaign helped elect Trump.
Press Secretary Sean Spicer said yesterday that the White House learned from the Justice Department on Jan. 26 that Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence about his communications with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Flynn had denied he discussed sanctions with Kislyak while President Obama was still in office,
but then walked back those comments, saying he could not recall and it was possible sanctions were discussed. But transcripts of the conversation reportedly show that Flynn did discuss sanctions with Kislyak — the same day President Obama announced new penalties against Russia after suspected campaign-related hacking.
Pence said he didn’t learn that Flynn had misled him until Feb. 9, after he read about it in The Washington Post, the paper reported last night.
Spicer told reporters that Trump asked Flynn to resign because of an “evolving and eroding level of trust.”
But left unanswered was why 18 days elapsed between when Trump found out Flynn had misled Pence and when Flynn stepped down. Spicer noted a “series of other questionable instances” regarding Flynn, but did not elaborate.
Trump, never known to shy away from controversy, has been unusually quiet about the Flynn scandal. He tweeted yesterday morning: “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?”
The heat turned up on the White House last night when the New York Times, citing “current and former American officials,” reported that phone records and intercepted calls show Trump campaign staffers had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials.
Democrats, who still recall the Senate investigation that trailed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her handling of the Benghazi consulate attacks, have demanded an independent commission.
“The Trump administration has many serious questions to answer,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “These questions must be asked by independent and unbiased law enforcement officers. They must be answered truthfully by administration officials. And any attempt to lie or mislead must be countered with the full force of the law.”