begin quote from:
Flynn in hot water
Flynn situation is 'fluid,' source says
Story highlights
- "The knives are out," the official said
- "I don't have any answers today," Miller said
(CNN)The
situation around embattled national security adviser Michael Flynn
remains "fluid" Monday night, according to a source with knowledge.
White
House press secretary Sean Spicer issued a statement saying President
Donald Trump is "evaluating the situation" around Flynn, who is in hot
water after possibly misleading Vice President Mike Pence.
The
issue stems from whether Flynn discussed sanctions against Russia with
the Russian ambassador before Trump took office and then misled Pence
about it. It created a turbulent 72 hours for the White House, leading
to questions about Flynn's future after only three weeks.
"The
President is evaluating the situation," Spicer's statement said. "He's
speaking to the vice president relative to the conversation the vice
president had with Gen. Flynn, and also speaking to various other people
about what he considers the single most important subject there is: our
national security."
The
noncommittal statement came shortly after Kellyanne Conway, the
counselor to the President, told reporters that Trump has "full
confidence" in Flynn.
"Gen.
Flynn does enjoy the full confidence of the President," Conway said on
MSNBC. She later declined to detail how much the President knew about
the issue and when he knew it, deeming those conversation private.
Many
inside the Trump administration are concerned with the fact that the
national security adviser could have misled senior members of the White
House, including Pence, who went on television and denied that Flynn
spoke about sanctions with Sergey Kislyak, Russian ambassador to
Washington.
Trump, who particularly
hates when aides generate negative press, has expressed displeasure
with Flynn to aides in recent days, said a source close to the
President. Trump and his team are particularly bothered by the
possibility that Flynn misrepresented his conversations to Pence.
Flynn spoke with Pence at
least twice Friday, according to another White House official who
declined to say whether the conversations were about the ongoing
controversy. The episode over sanctions against Russia has opened a rift
between Flynn and Pence, who exchanged a chilly handshake Friday before
Trump's news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Flynn also apologized to Pence and a source says the two "smoothed things over."
"The
knives are out," the official added, acknowledging that Flynn's future
in the White House is hardly a sure thing. "There's a lot of unhappiness
about this."
Christie on Flynn: 'One president at a time' 02:13
The Flynn-Russia phone call: How it unfolded
12/29/2016: US announces new sanctions against Russia. Michael Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak speak on the phone.
1/15/2017: The Washington Post first reports on the call. Vice President Mike Pence says Flynn didn't discuss sanctions.
1/16: Trump officials say the call was focused on scheduling a call between Trump and Putin.
1/23: US officials say investigators are scrutinizing several calls between Flynn and Russia's ambassador. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer says Flynn told him that sanctions were not discussed on the calls.
2/10: An aide close to Flynn says he can not rule out that Flynn spoke about sanctions on the call.
2/10: Trump says he is unaware of reports that Flynn may have spoken about sanctions during the calls and says he will "look into that."
2/10: A US official confirms that Flynn and Kislyak did speak about sanctions, among other matters.
2/12: White House policy director Stephen Miller says: "I don't have any information one way or another to add anything to the conversation."
2/13: Russia again denies all allegations to CNN: "We have already said there haven't been any."
1/15/2017: The Washington Post first reports on the call. Vice President Mike Pence says Flynn didn't discuss sanctions.
1/16: Trump officials say the call was focused on scheduling a call between Trump and Putin.
1/23: US officials say investigators are scrutinizing several calls between Flynn and Russia's ambassador. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer says Flynn told him that sanctions were not discussed on the calls.
2/10: An aide close to Flynn says he can not rule out that Flynn spoke about sanctions on the call.
2/10: Trump says he is unaware of reports that Flynn may have spoken about sanctions during the calls and says he will "look into that."
2/10: A US official confirms that Flynn and Kislyak did speak about sanctions, among other matters.
2/12: White House policy director Stephen Miller says: "I don't have any information one way or another to add anything to the conversation."
2/13: Russia again denies all allegations to CNN: "We have already said there haven't been any."
Administration
officials, some of who were once unsure about the details of the story,
now believe the national security adviser did, in fact, discuss
sanctions with the Russian ambassador. A US official confirmed to CNN on
Friday that Flynn and Kislyak did speak about sanctions, among other
matters, during a December call, contradicting past statements by White
House officials.
After the call was
made public, Pence told CBS News on January 15 that Flynn did not talk
sanctions levied by the Obama administration with Kislyak.
"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 that's always in search of a scalp, but people within
Trump's orbit were unable to defend Flynn on Sunday.
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 the question, hardly a ringing
endorsement from the aide the Trump administration put out to talk on
Sunday.
"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."
Report: Flynn talked sanctions with Russia 02:38
New
Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a longtime Trump ally, told CNN's Jake
Tapper Flynn needs to clear up his story with Trump and Pence in an
interview Sunday on "State of the Union."
The
White House official, pushing back against the idea that Flynn spoke
about sanctions, raised questions about the uproar surrounding Flynn and
poked holes in the criticism coming from the general's detractors.
Why,
the official said, would a general with years of experience in the
intelligence field jeopardize his career by discussing something he
likely knew was being recorded.
Trump
is also deeply loyal to Flynn: Their relationship stretches further
back than many of the national security adviser's White House
counterparts.
While Trump's top
White House advisers like chief of staff Reince Priebus and chief
strategist Steve Bannon only came aboard after Trump secured the
Republican nomination, Flynn was an early supporter and joined Trump's
campaign as his top foreign policy adviser in early 2016.
But
Flynn was not just a policy adviser. He also played the role of top
surrogate on the campaign trail, seeking to boost Trump's national
security bona fides and also leading the charge on political attacks
against Trump's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
Flynn
was also a contender to join Trump on the Republican ticket as his
running mate. But even after he wasn't tapped for the vice presidency,
Flynn continued to travel with Trump to most of his political rallies as
one of his most trusted advisers in his small circle of aides.
"It's a problem," a senior White House adviser said Friday about the possibility that Flynn misled Pence.
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