We have not yet reached the end of the Mike Flynn story. The former national security advisor’s abrupt resignation on Monday night might have been the end of his story, as far as the American people are concerned, had his downfall been personal or isolated. But the factors that cut Flynn’s White House tenure short are complex and intermingled with so many other issues.
Congress will be conducting hearings and investigations over what, exactly, Flynn spoke about with the Russian ambassador. The FBI’s own investigation, which included interviews with Flynn in the first days of the Trump administration, could yield more answers to questions we don’t even know about yet. The leaks from intelligence and administration personnel that helped shed light on Flynn’s misdirection will rightly prompt new scrutiny of a politicized culture in the intelligence community, where sensitive government information needs better protection.
And in the end, the internal turmoil within Donald Trump’s administration demonstrated by the Flynn flap will only be exacerbated. Reince Priebus’s role in ousting Flynn may have been his attempt to bring order to the West Wing, but it doesn’t seem to have made the target on the chief of staff’s back any smaller.
There will be plenty of questions and revelations about and around Flynn’s resignation over the next days, weeks, months, and likely years. But the big question, for the country and the future of Trump’s presidency is this: For how long can all this turmoil be sustained?
What About the FBI
One more point regarding the FBI’s interviews with Flynn in the first days of his tenure as national security advisor. As the New York Times reported, officials say the FBI did not believe Flynn was “entirely forthcoming” in those interviews, and the Times suggests the feds believe he could have lied to the FBI.
We have no idea what, exactly, the FBI is investigating, why it needed to interview Flynn, and what it has to do with his infamous calls with the Russian ambassador. But the fact that the interviews happened at all suggests that the requests for foreign surveillance warrants by the FBI to monitor conversations of the Russian official that Flynn was a part of. As David Kris argues, convincingly, the law’s “minimization” requirements for listening to FISA warrant-tapped calls appear to have been fulfilled in the Flynn calls.
Bibi to Meet Donald
The series of official visits from foreign leaders continues Wednesday, when Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with Trump at the White House. For a primer on the meeting, take a look at Elliott Abrams’s recent WEEKLY STANDARD article on Trump, Israel, settlements in the West Bank, and more. Here’s an excerpt:
Mike Lee and “Conservatism for the Forgotten Man”
One of Donald Trump’s most ardent conservative skeptics throughout the GOP primary was Senator Mike Lee. The Utah Republican will deliver an address at the Heritage Foundation Wednesday morning that will attempt to bridge Lee’s conservative principles with the populist promise of Trump’s election.
Entitled “Conservatism for the Forgotten Man: Reform in a Divided Society and Global Economy,” the speech will touch on tax reform, trade, and immigration. Lee will attempt to demonstrate how conservatives can answer the call from the American people on these and other issues with new ideas.
Here’s an advanced excerpt from Lee’s speech, which he will deliver at 9 a.m.:
Song of the Day
“High and Dry,” Radiohead
