Flyn Resignes National Security Position Over Russian Call

By Jonah Bennett of the Daily Caller 

National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned Monday amid accusations he misled Vice President Mike Pence about a call he had with the Russian ambassador, in which he reportedly discussed sanctions levied against Moscow.

White House sources told Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs the news Monday evening.
A White House statement released Monday confirmed that President Donald Trump was evaluating the situation and speaking to the vice president about the candid conversation that Pence had with Flynn.

“The president is evaluating the situation,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said. “He is speaking to Vice President relative to the conversation the VP had with general Flynn and also speaking to various other people about what he considers he single most important subject there is — our national security. ”

Pence went to bat for Flynn and directly told the press that the now-former national security adviser had not spoken to Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

But a U.S. official told CNN Friday that Flynn had indeed spoken to Kislyak about sanctions in December before Trump’s inauguration. And an unnamed aide later told CNN that it’s possible that sanctions were a topic discussed during that call, which could run afoul of laws prohibiting private citizens from conducting foreign policy.

Flynn has apologized to Pence, but it has not appeared to be enough to save his position.

Read Flynn’s full resignation letter below:

February 13, 2017
In the course of my duties as the incoming National Security Advisor, I held numerous phone calls with foreign counterparts, ministers, and ambassadors. These calls were to facilitate a smooth transition and begin to build the necessary relationships between the President, his advisors and foreign leaders. Such calls are standard practice in any transition of this magnitude.
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.
Throughout my over thirty three years of honorable military service, and my tenure as the National Security Advisor, I have always performed my duties with the utmost of integrity and honesty to those I have served, to include the President of the United States.
I am tendering my resignation, honored to have served our nation and the American people in such a distinguished way.
I am also extremely honored to have served President Trump, who in just three weeks, has reoriented American foreign policy in fundamental ways to restore America’s leadership position in the world.
As I step away once again from serving my nation in this current capacity, I wish to thank President Trump for his personal loyalty, the friendship of those who I worked with throughout the hard fought campaign, the challenging period of transition, and during the early days of his presidency.
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 U.S. history, and I firmly believe the American people will be well served as they all work together to help Make America Great Again.

Michael T. Flynn, LTG (Ret)
Assistant to the President / National Security Advisor

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