Thứ Ba, 14 tháng 2, 2017
Flynn resigns amid controversy over Russia contacts
Washington (CNN)Embattled White House national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned Monday night, an abrupt end to a brief tenure.
His departure came just after reports surfaced that the Justice Department warned the Trump administration
last month that Flynn misled administration officials regarding his
communications with the Russian ambassador to the United States and was
potentially vulnerable to blackmail by the Russians.
"I
inadvertently briefed the Vice President-elect and others with
incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian
ambassador. I have sincerely apologized to the President and the Vice
President, and they have accepted my apology," Flynn wrote, according to
a copy of his resignation letter obtained by CNN.

"I
am tendering my resignation, honored to have served our nation and the
American people in such a distinguished way," he wrote. "I know with the
strong leadership of President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike
Pence and the superb team they are assembling, this team will go down in
history as one of the greatest presidencies in US history."
The
move comes less than a month into the job, making him one of the
shortest-serving senior presidential advisers in modern history.
Gen.
Keith Kellogg will be the interim national security adviser, multiple
sources tell CNN. He most recently served as National Security Council
chief of staff.
A senior administration official said Kellogg, retired Gen. David Petraeus and former Vice Admiral Bob Harward
are possible replacements for Flynn. Another senior official told CNN
Tuesday that Harward is considered the top contender for the job.
Petraeus is going to the White House Tuesday, according to sources inside and close to the administration.
"He is making a run" for the job, one source said, but noted "he has a lot of baggage."
Pressure building
The
sudden exit marks the most public display yet of disarray at the
highest levels of the new administration, which has faced repeated
questions over a slew of controversies and reports of infighting among
senior aides during its first three weeks.
The resolution had been heading this way for three days, an administration source told CNN.
More
than whether he really had a conversation with the Russians about
sanctions, the key issue internally was whether he told the truth to
Pence, the source said.
The White House concluded at the very
least, Flynn didn't mean to mislead the vice president, but may have
because he couldn't remember what he said to the Russians.
"Not remembering is not a quality we can have for the national security adviser," the source said.
An
administration source said that Trump "hung in there" when it came to
Flynn, but there was a "flood of information" that finally made it clear
he had to resign.
Asked if Trump is disappointed, another administration official said: "He's moving on."
'Full classified briefing'
A
pair of Democratic lawmakers -- Reps. John Conyers, Jr., top Democrat
on the House Judiciary Committee, and Elijah Cummings, top Democrat on
the House oversight Committee -- sent a request for a "full classified
briefing" on the circumstances surrounding Flynn to the Justice
Department and FBI Monday night following Flynn's resignation.
"We
in Congress need to know who authorized his actions, permitted them and
continued to let him have access to our most sensitive national
security information despite knowing these risks. We need to know who
else within the White House is a current and ongoing risk to our
national security," they wrote in a statement.
They
added: "This new disclosure warrants a full classified briefing by all
relevant agencies, including the Department of Justice and the FBI, as
soon as possible and certainly before Thursday, February 16. We are
communicating this request to the Department of Justice and FBI this
evening."
Aftermath
The
shakeup now leaves Trump without one of his closest and longest-serving
advisers. Flynn had counseled Trump on foreign policy and national
security matters since early in the 2016 presidential race.
Flynn
was not able to definitively refute a Washington Post story late last
week that his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak
included communication about the sanctions. It is illegal for
unauthorized private citizens to negotiate with foreign governments on
behalf of the US.
The controversy intensified after
the report put Vice President Mike Pence and several senior White House
advisers in an uncomfortable position, as they had denied in TV
interviews weeks earlier that Flynn discussed sanctions with the
ambassador. Some administration officials said Flynn must have misled
Pence and others.
"The knives are out," a White House official told CNN on Friday, noting that "there's a lot of unhappiness about this."
Concerns
Many
expressed concern at the idea that Flynn, a retired lieutenant general
who headed the Defense Intelligence Agency, would discuss sanctions with
a foreign official whose calls are regularly monitored by US
intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
A
US official confirmed to CNN on Friday that Flynn and Kislyak did speak
about sanctions, among other matters, during a December call.
But
after the call was made public, Pence told CBS News on January 15 that
Flynn did not talk with Kislyak about the sanctions, which the Obama
administration recently levied due to Russia's alleged interference in
the 2016 elections.
"They did
not discuss anything having to do with the United States' decision to
expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia," Pence told CBS News.
On
Friday, an aide close to the national security adviser told CNN that
Flynn could not rule out that he spoke about sanctions on the call.
The
White House official blamed much of the outcry against Flynn on a
Washington culture always in search of a scalp, but people within
Trump's orbit did little to defend Flynn during appearances on Sunday
news shows.
Stephen Miller, White
House policy director, was asked directly about Flynn's future on a
number of Sunday talk shows. Miller responded by saying he was not the
appropriate official to ask.
"I
don't have any answers today," Miller said in response to questions
about whether Flynn misled the vice president. "I don't have any
information one way or another to add anything to the conversation."
CNN's Jim Acosta, Kevin Liptak and Dan Merica contributed to this report.
Chủ Nhật, 5 tháng 2, 2017
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