Top House Democrats bashed the White House Tuesday for failing to take immediate action once it learned of former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn’s talks with the Russian ambassador before President Trump was sworn into office.
“What is very concerning is that did not occur until publicly the information became available. The administration knew this and the president either knew this or should have known this information a number of weeks ago,” House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters at his weekly with reporters. He spoke just hours after Flynn resigned and admitted he “inadvertently” didn’t tell Vice President Pence the full extent of his conversations with Russian officials.
Hoyer noted that former acting Attorney General Sally Yates passed along this information to the White House counsel’s office, which should have led to immediate steps right away. “It is incomprehensible that that information was not transmitted to the president of the United States.”
Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., praised Flynn’s departure from the administration and said it was the “right call.” However, he added that the only reason he is leaving is because he got caught.
“I think it was the right call for Flynn to resign or be pushed out of office, but this is larger than Flynn. He wasn’t fired because he lied — let’s make that clear. He was not fired because he lied. He was fired because he just wasn’t a good enough liar,” Crowley said. “They were okay with lying to the American people. It’s only when they got caught that someone had to pay the price.”
Both Hoyer and Crowley echoed the words of former Sen. Howard Baker during the investigation into the Watergate scandal that led to former President Richard Nixon’s resignation, by openly wondering what Trump knew about Flynn’s discussions and when he knew it. However, neither floated the idea of impeachment, despite calls from corners of the Democratic voting base.
“Well, I think it’s premature to say what the consequences ought to be,” Crowley said, adding that a full investigation into the matter is needed. “We need to find out what they knew, when they knew it. Whether a directive was given by the president to Flynn to make those calls.”
Trump is reportedly looking at three potential replacements for the post, including David Petraeus, the former CIA director and four-star general who led all U.S. forces in the Iraq War. However, some Democrats intimated that they are not sold on him taking over after he pleaded guilty to mishandling classified information during his tenure as head of the CIA.
“While I respect him, the end of his tenure in government was not a pleasant one. So I would need to see all of the vetting information to see if they would be appropriate in that position,” said Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif, the vice chair of the Democratic caucus. “I’m skeptical of the choices they are making because clearly they’ve had a series of huge missteps in terms of who they’ve selected.”
Hoyer said he has “great respect” for Petraeus, but added that he finds his consideration for the post “somewhat ironic” given Trump’s past criticisms of Hillary Clinton for allegedly mishandling classified information on her private server.
