We already know National Security Advisor Michael Flynn lied repeatedly about his Russian contacts several times on February 8th. When confronted directly by intelligence officials — with transcripts of his conversations — Flynn admitted he might have mentioned the Russian sanctions, but couldn’t remember.
I’d have thought having CIA transcripts in front of him might refresh his memory. Two officials have already said that the Russian sanctions were the central topic. And yet Flynn still can’t quite remember the details.
Flynn is a former head of the DIA. Whatever else he is, he’s not stupid. He is completely aware that every phone conversation with the Russian Ambassador would be tapped, transcribed and analyzed. And yet he lied about it publicly, and the White House sent Pence out to back him up. Despite knowing Flynn was lying.
Flynn knows that the Russian Times (RT) is a branch of the Russian government, and that money from RT is money from Putin. He knew the CIA was photographing him as he sat next to Putin. He knows the level of scrutiny that money transfers from RT would receive. And yet he lied about RT, calling it just another paper, and about the money they’ve given him and his family, which he has not reported.
Were there other communications while Flynn was in Russia?
So today it got even worse. The Washington Post just reported that the Trump White House has known that Flynn was misleading them since “late last month.” That would have been well before Flynn’s public denials, and well before Pence’s public denial.
Now we know that the Attorney General warned the Trump White House ahead of time that Flynn was lying. And yet they didn’t make a fuss.
According to the Post, Sally Q. Flynn, then-acting Attorney General, informed the Trump White House that Flynn was misleading officials about his Russian dealings so badly he was open to blackmail. Remember that this started under the Obama administration, who were also aware of the transcripts.
The Russians, who also knew that Flynn was lying, first made no comment, and recently denied the transcripts.
Trump has shown little interest. When he’s informed, he shrugs. When his National Security Advisor lies in public, he has no comment. His spokespeople repeat the same fabrications, insisting there is no problem.
There are probably more, but here are the several big questions:
- Who was Flynn has been working with? He wasn’t acting as a free agent.
- What was he promising, and what did he want in return?
- Was there any connection between this and the Russian interference in the 2016 election in Trump’s favor.
The press is braying for Flynn’s resignation as if that was the most important issue. It really, really isn’t.
