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Donald Trump was told weeks ago that Michael Flynn withheld truth on Russia

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Washington: US President Donald Trump was aware that his national security adviser Michael Flynn had misled White House officials and Vice President Mike Pence for "weeks" before he was forced to resign on Monday night.

Trump was briefed by White House Counsel Don McGahn that Flynn had discussed US sanctions with the Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, despite his claims to the contrary, "immediately" after McGahn was informed about the discrepancy by the Department of Justice, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in a media briefing.

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Trump's trust in Flynn had been eroding

White House spokesman Sean Spicer says President Donald Trump asked for national security adviser Michael Flynn's resignation after his level of trust in Flynn eroded to the point that he felt he needed to make a change.

Sally Yates, the acting Attorney-General at the time, and a senior career national security official at the Justice Department had informed McGahn at his office about their concerns on January 26, according to a person familiar with the briefing. Spicer said that the president and a small group of senior aides were briefed by McGahn about Flynn that same day.

"We've been reviewing and evaluating this issue with respect to General Flynn on a daily basis for a few weeks, trying to ascertain the truth," Spicer said.

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The comments appear to contradict the impression given by Trump on Friday aboard Air Force One that he was not familiar with a Washington Post report that revealed that Flynn had not told the truth about the calls.

"I don't know about that. I haven't seen it. What report is that? I haven't seen that. I'll look into that," Trump told reporters on the plane.

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Separately, the New York Times reported that Pence first learned that Flynn had misled him about the nature of his contact with a Russian official on February 9, a full two weeks after other White House officials were briefed on the matter, according to an aide to Pence said on Tuesday.

The timing indicates that Pence would have become aware of the controversy around the same time that a Washington Post report was published, detailing the degree to which Flynn had been in contact with the Russian ambassador to the United States on the issue of sanctions, Pence spokesman Marc Lotter said.

"What I would tell you is that the vice president became aware of incomplete information that he had received on February 9, last Thursday night, based on media accounts," Lotter said. "He did an inquiry based on those media accounts."

In discussing Trump's awareness about Flynn's statements, the White House Counsel's office conducted a "review" of the legal issues and determined that "there was not a legal issue but rather a trust issue," Spicer said. "The President was very concerned that General Flynn had misled the Vice President and others. The President must have complete and unwavering trust of the person in that position."

Spicer said that "the evolving and eroding level of trust as a result of a series of other issues is what led the President to ask for General Flynn's resignation." He added that the President had an "instinctive" belief that Flynn had not broken any laws, which was later "confirmed" by an inquiry led by the White House counsel's office.

Spicer's account of the event that led to Flynn's resignation adds to the confusion among White House officials on that issue. Senior officials told reporters on Monday night that Flynn offered his resignation voluntarily. And White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway said on the Today show on Tuesday that Flynn "had resigned" and was not forced to quit.

"The President is very loyal. He's a very loyal person," Conway said. "And by nighttime, Mike Flynn had decided it was best to resign. He knew he became a lightning rod, and he made that decision."

The Press Secretary repeatedly said that Trump was not concerned with the nature of the conversations that Flynn had with the Russian Ambassador but that the lack of trust created an "unsustainable" situation.

"The President has no problem with the fact that he acted in accord with what his job was supposed to be," Spicer said.

National security officials monitored the calls of the Russian Ambassador as a part of routine surveillance of foreign officials in the US. Spicer declined to say if the President would declassify and release transcripts of Flynn's call with Kislyak.

"It is inappropriate for me to comment on those a this time," Spicer said. "It is not an issue that has come up."

Washington Post with New York Times

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