Trump knew of Flynn’s Russian Federation phone calls ‘weeks ago’

When Trump said, “I don’t know about that”, he simply meant he didn’t know about the Washington Post report specifically, Spicer claimed.

Throughout the campaign and now in office, Pence has largely managed to avoid the infighting and warring factions of the young White House by keeping his head down and soldiering loyally forward. Washington can be a rough town for honorable people, and Flynn – who has always been a soldier, not a politician – deserves America’s gratitude and respect for dedicating so much of his life to strengthening our national security.

Let’s first acknowledge the obvious: This should not be the end of the story. During the phone call Flynn reportedly discussed sanctions relief, something he denied discussing and then later said he didn’t recall. But the real question is the age-old puzzle about corruption in the White House: “What did the president know and when did he know it?” But when did Trump know about Flynn’s Russian Federation phone call? “The evolving and eroding level of trust as a result of this situation and a series of other questionable incidents is what led the president to ask General Flynn for his resignation”, he said.

In Flynn’s case, if he were freelancing with the Russians, Trump would justifiably be furious about the embarrassment and distraction it has caused. Other leaks have provided even more salacious details: Trump has been portrayed as a president who is obsessed with watching cable television at all hours of the day, muttering to himself about “fake news” any time someone criticizes him.

Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence agency also said the reports were baseless.

“This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton’s losing campaign”, he tweeted.

After the messy and high-profile resignation of Michael Flynn, the president and at least one key congressional Republican have directed their ire at the leaks that exposed the now-former National Security Advisor’s clandestine conversations with Russian officials.

For starters, it is concerning that the President’s national security adviser discussed sanctions with Russian officials before Trump was sworn in, a possible violation of the Logan Act.

After privately being assured by Flynn that he had never had any discussions about Russian sanctions with that country’s ambassador, Pence went on TV in mid-January and publicly parroted Flynn’s denial. But as Netanyahu took flight for Washington on Monday, Flynn’s job was cast in doubt over an alleged crime concerning intelligence agencies the world over: secretly sharing U.S. intentions with Moscow, and lying about it.

Writing in Politico, he said.

“Gen. Flynn’s resignation also raises further questions about the Trump administration’s intentions toward Vladimir Putin’s Russian Federation, including statements by the president suggesting moral equivalence between the United States and Russian Federation despite its invasion of Ukraine, annexation of Crimea, threats to our North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies and attempted interference in American elections”, McCain, R-Ariz., said in a statement.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate Intelligence Committee will likely look into the matter. “The [Senate] intelligence committee is already looking at this”, told reporters today, noting that its leaders have subpoena powers. But it’s now more clear than ever that we will need more people like them in the next few years if we really want to hold the Trump administration accountable.

Texas Senator John Cornyn, the second-ranked Senate Republican leader, echoed calls for an investigation into Mr Flynn’s ties to Russian Federation.