Former national security adviser Michael Flynn didn’t last long in the Trump administration, but even that slim timeframe was enough for him to unlawfully make “false, fictitious and fraudulent statements” to FBI investigators about his interactions with the Russian ambassador.
With Flynn pleading guilty, there will likely be an effort from White House to distance President Trump from his former advisor. CNN reported that a source close to the West Wing claims “[p]eople in the building are very happy… This doesn’t lead back to Trump in any way, shape or form.”
Indeed, in a statement, White House lawyer Ty Cobb downplayed Flynn’s ties to the administration, highlighting his short tenure and previous service under former President Barack Obama. “Today,” Cobb said on Friday, “Michael Flynn, a former National Security Advisor at the White House for 25 days during the Trump Administration, and a former Obama administration official, entered a guilty plea to a single count of making a false statement to the FBI.”
“The false statements involved mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in his resignation in February of this year. Nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn,” he insisted.
But as part of a plea deal, Flynn has reportedly “admitted that a senior member of the Trump transition team directed him to make contact with Russian officials in December 2016,” which would, of course, implicate another current or former member of the president’s staff.
Furthermore, as Washington Examiner White House reporter Sarah Westwood pointed out, the charge to which Flynn pleaded guilty said his false statements occurred “on or about” Jan. 24, four days into Trump’s administration.
lying to the FBI — occurred when Flynn was serving in the administration, on Jan. 24. Impossible for WH to distance itself from this.— Sarah Westwood (@sarahcwestwood) December 1, 2017
It’s true Flynn resigned in mid-February after it appeared he misled Vice President Mike Pence about a late-December phone call with the Russian ambassador. But it’s a stretch to suggest new developments regarding the former national security adviser absolve the White House given that Flynn’s admitted lies to the FBI occurred during his time in the administration and he appears now to have implicated a senior transition team official, who likely served or is currently serving on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Whether the president himself was directly involved is a question, though it’s one we don’t yet know the answer to; what we do know is that his national security advisor lied to the FBI during his time on the job and is now implicating a former colleague, one who served Trump in a top post as well.
