President Trump did not address the guilty plea of former national security adviser Michael Flynn at the annual White House Christmas party on Friday, nor did he stay and take pictures with the guests as presidents typically do.
Instead, he offered brief remarks that lasted two minutes and shook hands with those nearby for another several minutes, according to Politico.
Trump specifically addressed members of the media saying, “This year we’ve traveled to many places across the country. You too have great stamina, I have to say. And we’ve been all around the world, just got back from a big one in Asia. You spent days away from your families and, this afternoon, I hope you’re going to be able to enjoy a little time with your spouses and loved ones right here at the people’s house, a special place, and honestly in many ways very special people — at least many of you.”
Although the event was held just hours after Flynn’s guilty plea, it was not included in Trump’s remarks and reporters did not have the opportunity to ask him questions.
Flynn pleaded guilty on Friday in a federal court in Washington for lying to the FBI in January about his contacts with Sergey Kislyak, former Russian ambassador to the U.S. Flynn was charged on one count of “willfully and knowingly” making “false, fictitious and fraudulent statements” to the FBI about communications exchanged with Kislyak shortly after Trump took office. Flynn said he is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller.
“Aside from the no lining up for pictures with the president and first lady, it was really quite similar to the others I’ve been to,” said Linda Feldmann, Washington bureau chief of the Christian Science Monitor.
“The news this morning was big, but I think it’s sort of typical for the Trump era,” she said. “We’re used to these daily news explosions.”
Many members from Fox News attended the party including Sean Hannity, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Jesse Watters, causing some to banter that the party should have been called the “Fox News holiday party” instead. CNN skipped the event as expected.
Senior staff members from the Trump administration in attendance included White House chief of staff John Kelly, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, and counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway. Still, many senior officials did not make appearances or stay long.
