Despite being advised by President Obama, and former Attorney General Sally Yates that disgraced former General Michael Flynn should not hold the post of National Security Adviser, President Trump kept him in his position for an additional 18 days. Trump released Flynn only after it became public that Flynn had lied to Vice President elect Pence in regards to his contact with Russian operatives.
Ms. Yates told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Monday “We wanted to tell the White House as quickly as possible,” “To state the obvious: You don’t want your national security adviser compromised with the Russians.” Ms. Yates’s testimony, along with a separate revelation Monday that President Barack Obama had warned Trump not to hire Flynn, offered a more complete public account of Flynn’s catastrophic fall from one of the nation’s most important security positions. It also raised doubts about Trump’s judgment in keeping Mr. Flynn in place despite obvious Justice Department concerns. White House officials have not fully explained why they waited so long. “I don’t have any way of knowing what, if anything, they did,” Ms. Yates said. “If nothing was done, then certainly that would be concerning.”
On Jan. 26, Ms. Yates said, she called the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, regarding “a very sensitive matter” that they could discuss only in person. Later that day, at the White House, she warned McGahn that White House officials were making statements “that we knew not to be the truth.” Yates said she explained to McGahn how she knew Flynn’s statements were untrue, though she did not go into details Monday, citing concerns about sensitive information.
Apparently not concerned if honesty or truth matters in the Trump administration, McGahn asked at a second meeting the next day “Why does it matter to D.O.J. if one White House official lies to another White House official?”
Looking for a scapegoat as to why he appointed Flynn in the first place, President Trump tweeted
General Flynn was given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration – but the Fake News seldom likes talking about that.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017
Thus Donald Trump apparently rationalized that despite Obama having fired Flynn in 2014, and that Obama personally advising him from having Flynn hold the post, Flynn would be just fine being in control of the nations top secrets, especially those involving Russia.
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