President Donald Trump’s embattled National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned abruptly on Monday night after being dogged by a controversy over his pre-inauguration telephone talk with the Russian Ambassador and reports that he misled Vice President Mike Pence on the nature of the conversation.
“Unfortunately, because of the fast pace of events, 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, a three-star retired general, said in his resignation letter.
Given the high importance of the position, Trump almost simultaneously named retired lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg as the acting NSA. Kellogg, who had previously been appointed the Chief of Staff for the National Security Council, advised Trump on national security issues during his election campaign.
A loyal and enthusiastic Trump supporter from early on, Flynn put in his papers after intelligence revelations that he had discussed with the Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak the sensitive issue of US sanctions nearly a month before the inauguration of Trump as the 45th President in January. Democrats had been crying foul for days over what they regarded as a clear breach of protocol.
The resignation came after reports that the Justice Department had informed the White House on the possibility that Flynn could be subject to Russian blackmail in the wake of the conversations with the envoy that had been tapped by US intelligence agencies.
last week, The Washington Post, citing nine unnamed intelligence sources, had reported that Flynn discussed the sanctions issue with the Russian envoy – something that Flynn had denied earlier while discussing the issue with Vice President Pence. That had prompted Pence to make a public assertion to the effect on national television last month.
The Flynn episode and his all-too-soon departure from a key position is being seen as an embarrassment for President Trump, who is still struggling to have his full Cabinet in place because of the continuing bid by Senate Democrats to delay the confirmation of several secretaries.
Opinion has been divided on whether Flynn’s talk of sanctions with the Russian envoy was an illegal act. While critics point out such an action is forbidden under the logan Act of 1799, NBC News quoted a senior intelligence official as saying that there had been no finding that Flynn did anything illegal.
White House Counsellor Kellyanne Conway, who had told reporters on Monday that the NSA enjoyed Trump’s full confidence, told NBC News on Tuesday morning that the general “decided it was best to resign” because he had “become a lightning rod” to critics.
Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, said Flynn’s resignation was “all but ordained the day he misled the country about his secret talks with the Russian ambassador”. He went on to call Flynn “a poor choice” for the high post.
In contrast, Republican Congressman Devin Nunes, who heads the House Intelligence Committee, lauded Flynn for his “many years of distinguished service”, commenting: “Washington, DC can be a rough town for honorable people, and Flynn — who has always been a soldier, not a politician -- deserves America’s gratitude and respect for dedicating so much of his life to strengthening our national security.”
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