Moscow rejects media reports on Trump aides’ ties with Russian intelligence

WASHINGTON-Michael Flynn’s resignation Monday as Donald Trump’s national security adviser is unlikely to quell congressional calls-especially from Democrats-for further investigations into ties between Russian Federation and Mr. Trump’s team.

Flynn, 58, had come under intense scrutiny Monday night for conversations he had with Russian ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak in December, during which he may have discussed potential economic sanctions against Moscow for the Kremlin’s purported meddling in the American election.

January 15: Vice President Mike Pence repeats that denial in an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation. And these transcripts were shared among various U.S. government agencies.

However, Trump refused to acknowledge that he was the person who had asked Flynn to resign, nor explain why he would have asked a “wonderful man” to leave the White House in the first place.

Trump also praised Bloomberg columnist Eli Lake, the author of a recent article entitled “The Political Assassination of Michael Flynn”. Late Tuesday afternoon, the White House claimed Trump asked for Flynn’s resignation. That is why Flynn’s resignation was unavoidable. Hence when the Washington Post’s highly sourced article dropped a bomb on the nascent administration, Pence was virtually exposed as a liar and Flynn’s position became untenable.

Trump has previously derided the intelligence community, which he believed leaked information that led to prior reports about supposed connections between his campaign and the Russian government. In fact, Ryabkov said “quite a few” members of Trump’s team had been “staying in touch with Russian representatives” before Americans cast their ballots.

The Times reported that there is no evidence that there was any cooperation between the Trump campaign and the Russians over influencing the election. Pence was unequivocal: “Of course not”.

The communications were gathered as part of routine United States intelligence collection and not because people close to Trump were being targeted. It remains unclear why Trump did not take immediate action against Flynn. Keith Kellogg is named acting national security adviser.

Democratic anger with the administration is nothing new. Less than one month old, and already the Trump presidency has the making of an ethical superfund site. Last month, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence announced it would investigate allegations that Russian Federation meddled in the USA elections.

Flynn’s departure at least gives Trump a fresh chance to clean house with a more establishment-friendly national security adviser.

Three names have been floated as more official possibilities: former deputy commander of U.S. Central Command Bob Harward, former Bush national security aide Tom Bossert, and former CIA director, Gen. David Petraeus. “Did others at Trump transition team authorize conversations about sanctions?” So what did they chat about? Did Flynn warn Kislyak not to mess with USA democracy?

Allegations about Trump’s involvement with Russia have ranged from reports last month of a dossier that alleged collusion between the then-candidate and Russian President Vladimir Putin to a public call from the candidate himself last July, when he urged Russian agents to “find” Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails and release them.

Mr Flynn’s spokesman subsequently told reporters that he “couldn’t be certain” he had not discussed sanctions.

That’s exactly what Trump did-more than once-on Twitter.

Flynn can not be allowed to fade away to some consulting or lobbying job (or Fox News post).

Citing US law-enforcement and intelligence agencies, The Times said alleged contact between Trump associates and Russian Federation was discovered during a concurrent FBI investigation into election-related cyberattacks by Russian Federation that targeted Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee. Flynn should be at the top of the to-do list of the committees’ gumshoes.

He also charged that the way the Flynn information was obtained violated the law.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are exclusively those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

“We need an independent review, period”, House Democrat Mark Pocan of Madison said in an interview Wednesday. Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign last August amid controversy over his lobbying work for pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarchs.