Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats are demanding an independent investigation into White House national security adviser Mike Flynn’s conversations with Russia’s ambassador and whether he discussed the possibility of lifting U.S. sanctions on Moscow before President Trump took office.
“We asked for and demand an independent investigation of what Flynn discussed with the Russian ambassador and we’ll be saying more about that soon,” the New York Democrat said.
If the probe finds any evidence that Flynn lied about what he discussed, then his “security clearance should be withdrawn and if he has violated any law or ethical precept, he should be fired,” Schumer said.
Schumer also took Trump to task for taking a phone call about North Korea’s missile test Saturday night while having dinner in the middle of a packed Mar-a-Lago club.
Considering the priority Trump is placing on making America secure, the public phone call was inappropriate, Schumer charged.
“Security begins at home – he shouldn’t have had such a sensitive discussion in a public place,” he said.
Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., the 2016 Democratic nominee for vice president, wouldn’t say if he thinks Flynn should lose his security clearance.
Kaine told the Washington Examiner that while he is “troubled” by reports that Flynn spoke to the Russians and told Vice President Mike Pence otherwise before a Sunday show appearance. However, he wasn’t ready to say his clearance should be revoked, adding that he hasn’t focused on the possibility very much.
“I’m very troubled about this situation with disputes about his conversion with the Russians over sanctions,” Kaine said while walking through the Capitol. “I feel like I know the Vice President pretty well. I don’t know Flynn as well, but to tell the Vice President ‘we didn’t have these discussions’ and then he looks like he did — that’s pretty serious.”
“I’m very troubled. I haven’t reached a conclusion about that,” Kaine said, referring to the possibility of having the security clearance revoked, adding: “I haven’t focused on the security clearance issue so much.”
Kaine who serves on both the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, pointed to effort by some lawmakers during the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) discussions to make the National Security Adviser position Senate confirmable, arguing that it could have solved this issue.
“I think that really would have solved a problem. We didn’t realize that this would be the problem, but we kind of felt like in looking at the structure that this would be valuable to have as senate confirmable,” Kaine continued. “I hope we can maybe pick up on that idea.”
“I think it would be wise. It would be a wise reform,” Kaine said. “I think it made a lot of sense.”
“I don’t know if I’m ready to make that decision,” Maryland Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, who is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters Monday when asked if Flynn’s security clearance should be revoked.
After near-silence from the White House over the weekend, including during Sunday show interviews with Stephen Miller, a top policy adviser for the president, Kellyanne Conway said that Flynn enjoys the “full confidence” from the Flynn.
On Monday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer would not back up assertions maybe by senior aide Kellyanne Conway just hours earlier that Trump remained confident in Flynn. Instead, Spicer said Trump is still “evaluating the situation.”
The Washington Post reported last week that Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia on Dec. 29, the same day President Obama imposed them.
Last month, Pence appeared on national television to vouch for Flynn and said he and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak had not discussed sanctions. Instead, he argued that the timing of the call was coincidental and that it was made to offer condolences for a fatal plane crash and to wish him a merry Christmas.
Earlier Monday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called on Trump to fire Flynn amid the anonymous accusations about his conversations with the Russian ambassador, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said it would be a “huge issue” if Flynn didn’t tell Pence the truth about the call and caused him to mislead the public.
