NSA Head Mike Flynn Resigns After Misleading VP Pence
The Donald Trump administration hasn’t even gone a month before a potential scandal hit. It’s one thing to blur the lines by having a secure meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort but it’s completely another to have his national security advisor discuss sanctions with the Russian ambassador.
Mike Flynn has resigned from his post as the allegations and reports kept piling up to the point where the White House deemed the situation to be fluid. CNN was the first to report that Flynn had resigned.
“I inadvertently briefed the Vice President-elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phonically with the Russian ambassador. I have sincerely apologized to the President and the Vice President, and they have accepted my apology,” Flynn wrote according to a copy of his resignation letter obtained by CNN.
While Flynn may have said that he inadvertently misled Vice President Mike Pence, there are some sources that are saying differently. Sources told the NEW York Times that Pence, who isn’t usually an angry person, was “incensed” over Flynn misleading him due to the fact that he went on television and backed up the former National Security advisor. Flynn’s departure also came after former attorney general Sally Yates, whom Trump fired for not enforcing his Muslim ban, warned him about Flynn’s phone conversation.
While reports were swirling throughout out the weekend and at the beginning of the week, Flynn and his pundits tried to convince the president it would be in his best interest to not let Flynn go. According to Politico, Flynn supporters said that if Trump let him go it would “look like he made a mistake only a month into his administration.”
Currently, the Trump administration is using Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to head up the search for a replacement. As of now, General Keith Kellogg will be the interim head until a replacement is found.
The FBI has been examining Flynn’s phone conversations including the one with Russian ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak. They also warned the White House that Flynn would be open to blackmail by the Russian government.
Flynn’s problems aren’t just from the phone call, which may have broken some laws. The Army is also investigating money that he received from the Russian government in 2015 when he traveled to Moscow. That kind of payment would violate the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits former military officers from receiving payment from foreign governments without Congressional consent.
The Democrats were not big supporters of Mike Flynn during his month long term as National Security advisor. Democratic minority leader Nancy Pelosi called for Flynn to be fired as each of the reports came out about his discussion of sanctions with the Russian ambassador.
“Michael Flynn’s conduct was alarming enough before his secret communications with the Russians were exposed,” Pelosi said in a statement. “Now, we have a national security adviser who cannot be trusted not to put Putin before America.”
