Trump is 'evaluating situation' about Flynn, spokesman says
WASHINGTON — President Trump is "evaluating the situation" with respect to embattled national security adviser Michael Flynn, and he is speaking to Vice President Pence about what Flynn might have said about a disputed phone with the Russian ambassador, the White House announced Monday.
Trump spokesman Sean Spicer declined to take questions after reading a formal statement that came shortly after aides said the president had "full confidence" in Flynn amid questions about his future in the wake of revelations he might have interfered with U.S. relations with Russia while a private citizen.
Trump himself, caught in the hallway by reporters, declined to answer questions about whether he still has confidence in Flynn. He instead praised Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and referred reporters to Spicer's statement about Flynn.
In that statement, Spicer said Trump is speaking to "various other people" about what he considers the most important issue of his presidency, the nation's security.
After he released the statement, Spicer spoke to reporters again and said, "The statement speaks for itself."
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He would not identify who Trump would talk to beyond Flynn and Pence.
"He's getting input; he's looking at the situation," Spicer said, adding that he didn't know when it would be completed.
Spicer said Trump spent the weekend on other matters — Japan, North Korea, Canada — and is now focused on the allegations surrounding Flynn, who remains on the job.
"The statement is what the president's current thinking is," Spicer said.
White House aide Kellyanne Conway said Flynn simply can't recall whether he discussed the additional sanctions the United States placed on Russia with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak shortly after the sanctions were announced in the final days of the Obama administration.
Flynn has apologized to Pence, speaking with him in person and on the telephone, said a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive personnel matter. Pence emphatically denied to CBS News last month that Flynn had discussed "anything having to do with the United States' decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia."
Conway and the White House official said Flynn says he may have discussed sanctions but cannot be 100% certain. Conway spoke shortly after 4 p.m. An hour later, Spicer emerged with his statement that essentially contradicted Conway's statement that Trump had full confidence in Flynn.
Despite the intense speculation about Flynn's future, no questions about Flynn were asked during the news conference Monday held by Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trump took two questions from U.S. reporters; both were from conservative-leaning media outlets. Flynn sat in the front row at the news conference with other administration officials.
The controversy involves a phone call in late December with Kislyak amid the Obama administration's crackdown in retaliation for alleged Russian hacking during the 2016 presidential campaign. The timing of the call — and Russia's decision not to retaliate against the U.S. measures — raised further questions about the relationship between Trump's inner circle and the Kremlin.
Initially, Flynn said he did not discuss sanctions with Kislyak, a denial passed on to the public by Spicer and Pence, among others. In past weeks, Flynn has said the conversation was general in nature, including holiday greetings.
After a Washington Post story last week cited nine unnamed intelligence sources as saying Flynn and the Russian ambassador did discuss sanctions, the national security adviser adjusted his story. Pence is said to be particularly upset with Flynn's changed story, said another official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because staff members were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
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Flynn's phone call with the Russian ambassador has long made him a target. Critics accused him of violating the so-called Logan Act, though that prohibition on private citizens conducting foreign policy has never been successfully enforced. The Logan Act became law in 1799.
Democrats, already suspicious of Flynn's ties to Russia, have called for his dismissal.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Monday that Flynn should be fired.
“This Administration has exhausted its excuses," Pelosi said in a statement. "Vladimir Putin’s grip on President Trump must be investigated, exposed and broken. National security demands that General Flynn be fired immediately.”
The problems with Flynn are a "reflection on the president," Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on MSNBC. "And this is a president who is erratic, who is inexperienced, who may be very well in over his head, who starts the day generally by Tweeting things that his national security team then has to chase after and make sense out of.”
Flynn accompanied Trump to his Palm Beach, Fla., estate this past weekend for presidential talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One last Friday, Trump said he wasn't aware of the reports that Flynn discussed sanctions but promised to "look into" the matter.
