Less than one month into office, President Donald Trump’s controversial national security advisor, Michael Flynn, abruptly resigned Monday night following revelations he had discussed sanctions with a high-level Russian official and then misinformed White House staff, including Vice President Mike Pence, about that conversation.
“Flynn’s firing sin was not lying to the public: high officials do that constantly; that’s encouraged. It was lying to Pence.” —Glenn GreenwaldThe news—described by one outlet as the “latest and most dramatic convulsion in the most chaotic start to an administration in modern U.S. history”—comes as certain embarrassment for Trump, who only hours earlier was described by another top aide as having “full confidence” in Flynn.
“Gen. Flynn does enjoy the full confidence of the president,” said Trump’s top aide and White House spokesperson Kellyanne Conway during an interview with MSNBC on Monday afternoon.
As the Huffington Post reports:
In her Monday interview with MSNBC, Conway described how Flynn had originally told Pence and others that sanctions were not discussed with Kislyak, but later changed his story by saying he could “not recall” the exact content of the conversation. Though Flynn ultimately apologized to Pence—who went on national television to defend Flynn—it appears after the latest revelations and reporting on Monday night that the White House viewed the damage as too great.
“You know we’re living in strange times when a National Security Advisor’s resignation is good for national security.” —Jon Rainwater, Peace ActionAs journalist Glenn Greenwald noted in a tweet early on Tuesday, “Flynn’s firing sin was not lying to the public: high officials do that constantly; that’s encouraged. It was lying to Pence.”
The Washington Post notes that whereas the average national security advisor serves for about 2.6 years, Flynn’s premature departure sets a new record for shortest stint at just 24 days.
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