Trump Team Knew Flynn Was Under Investigation When They Made Him National Security Adviser
Things just went from bad to worse… to much worse for Donald Trump. The New York Times is reporting that the Trump transition knew Flynn was under federal investigation when they appointed him to the national security adviser position.
According to the New York Times Flynn “told President Trump’s transition team weeks before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign, according to two people familiar with the case.”
The news that the Trump transition knew of the federal investigation into Flynn but gave him access the nation’s most sensitive intelligence secrets anyway raises troubling questions about both judgment but also whether there is something more sinister that caused Trump to ignore the obvious issue.
The New York Times went on to note that “Mr. Flynn’s disclosure, on Jan. 4, was first made to the transition team’s chief lawyer, Donald F. McGahn II, who is now the White House counsel. That conversation, and another one two days later between Mr. Flynn’s lawyer and transition lawyers, shows that the Trump team knew about the investigation of Mr. Flynn far earlier than has been previously reported.”
Earlier in the day, the Justice Department announced the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel overseeing the Trump-Russia investigation.
And another report by NBC News noted that the FBI’s investigation has intensified in recent days with multiple grand juries having been empaneled, with Flynn and Manafort as the key focus.
The news that the Mike Flynn informed the Trump transition of being under federal investigation also raises important questions about Mike Pense who was head of the transition.
You can read the full New York Times report here.
