Democrats Seek Investigation Into National Security Adviser

That was Flynn’s spokesman commenting on conversations held late past year between Michael Flynn, a retired general who became national security adviser with Trump’s inauguration, and Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey I. Kislyak. One former official told the Post that the references to the subject were “explicit”.

After all, the report does confirm that Trump’s team was in contact with Russian Federation during the campaign, an allegation Trump and his spokespeople have denied on multiple occasions.

The Washington Post reports that conversations with no less than nine intelligence officials confirm that Flynn did talk with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about Obama’s sanctions on the Russian Federation.

If the reports prove true, Flynn’s private communications with Kislyak would have violated the Logan Act, which prohibits private citizens from meddling in US government foreign policy issues.

The Post, citing unnamed current and former USA officials, reported on Thursday that Trump’s national security adviser Michael Flynn privately discussed US sanctions against Russia with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

“Kislyak was left with the impression that the sanctions would be revisited at a later time”, the former official said. Mr. Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, told ABC’s “This Week”. According to USA Today, there is an ongoing investigation into Russian interference in US affairs, spearheaded by Republican senator Lindsey Graham of SC and Democratic senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

If he did, that would put him in breach of the 1799 Logan Act, which bans private citizens from negotiating with foreign powers that are in dispute with the US, The Huffington Post reported.

“I don’t know about it”.

Today, an administration official tells NPR and other news outlets that Pence had based his response on conversations he had with Flynn as he prepared to appear on the show.

Pence’s statements open up questions as to if he wasn’t entirely briefed on the situation by Flynn or if he lied to the American people on objective.

In her statement, Pelosi also demanded an FBI investigation into the wider ‘financial, political and personal ties between President Donald Trump and Russian Federation’.

The Kremlin on February 10 flatly denied that Flynn had any discussions about sanctions with Kislyak.

When asked about his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the January 11 news conference, Trump called it “an asset, not a liability” and an improvement over what he called America’s current “horrible relationship with Russia”.

But Flynn, and Trump himself, violated the “one president at a time” tradition, meant to warn foreign governments that whatever confusion lies in the transition of power, the USA speaks with one voice.

Surely this is the first time since the Reagan Iran-Contra scandal that National Security Council personnel have been on such legal thin ice, such that criminal charges could be filed.

Official concern about Flynn’s interactions with Kislyak was heightened when Putin declared on December 30 that Moscow would not retaliate after the Obama administration announced a day earlier the expulsion of 35 suspected Russian spies and the forced closure of Russian-owned compounds in Maryland and NY. But Flynn seemed to be on a different page, suggesting that Trump is seeking areas for cooperation with Russian Federation.

Flynn, a veteran of America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has courted controversy with extreme statements that critics say border on Islamophobia, but has taken a more flexible line on Russian Federation and China.