President-elect Trump has offered retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn a role in his administration as national security adviser, the transition team confirmed Friday morning.
The job offer is among the first Trump’s transition team has made. Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus has been named chief of staff and Breitbart chairman Stephen Bannon has been named chief adviser to the president.
Flynn, who rose to through the ranks to become President Obama’s director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, was fired in 2014. He said it was because his views had strayed from the administration’s, while others claim his management style was too abrasive and he was ill-equipped to run a large bureaucracy.
He has served Trump as an adviser throughout his primary and election campaign, and made his national debut during the Republican National Convention this summer with a fiery speech amid chants of “lock her up.”
Flynn has also come under fire for his consulting firm’s ties to the Turkish government and for a sympathetic attitude toward Russia.
“It concerns me a great deal that the president-elect may be getting advice that reinforces his view of Putin,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said on Thursday.
“There is substantial concern about whether he respects, one, the process and, two, the personnel of the [intelligence community], especially when they tell him things that he doesn’t want to hear,” Schiff said. “As DNI Clapper said today, there is truly no question that Russia meddled.”
