President
Donald Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned late on
Monday after coming under fire over whether he discussed the possibility of
lifting
U.S. sanctions on Russia before Trump took office.
U.S. sanctions on Russia before Trump took office.
Retired
General Keith Kellogg, who has been chief of staff of the White House National
Security Council, was named the acting national security adviser while Trump
determines who should fill the position.
Kellogg,
retired General David Petraeus, a former CIA director, and Robert Harward, a
former deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, are under consideration for
the position, a White House official said.
Flynn
submitted his resignation hours after Trump said through a spokesman that he
was reviewing the situation and talking to Vice President Mike Pence.
Flynn had
promised Pence he had not discussed U.S. sanctions with the Russians, but
transcripts of intercepted communications, described by U.S. officials, showed
that the subject had come up in conversations between him and the Russian
ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak.
Such
contacts could potentially be in violation of a law banning private citizens
from engaging in foreign policy, known as the Logan Act.
Flynn's
departure was the most dramatic moment yet of Trump's young presidency, a 24-day
period during which his White House has been repeatedly distracted by miscues
and internal dramas.
"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 said in his
resignation letter.
Flynn's
resignation came after it was reported that the Justice Department warned the
White House weeks ago that Flynn could be vulnerable to blackmail for contacts
with Russian officials before Trump took power on Jan. 20.
A U.S.
official confirmed a Washington Post report that Sally Yates, the then-acting
U.S. attorney general, told the White House late last month that she believed
Flynn had misled them about the nature of his communications with the Russian
ambassador to the United States.
She said
Flynn might have put himself in a compromising position, possibly leaving
himself vulnerable to blackmail, the official said. Yates was later fired for
opposing Trump's temporary entry ban for people from seven mostly Muslim
nations.
A U.S.
official, describing the intercepted communications, said Flynn did not make
any promises about lifting the sanctions.
But he did
indicate that sanctions imposed by President Barack Obama on Russia for its
Ukraine incursion "would not necessarily carry over to an administration
seeking to improve relations between the U.S. and Russia," the official
said.
Flynn, a
retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, was an early supporter of Trump and
shares his interest in shaking up the establishment in Washington. He
frequently raised eyebrows among Washington's foreign policy establishment for
trying to persuade Trump to warm up U.S. relations with Russia.
A U.S.
official said Flynn's departure, coupled with Russia's aggression in Ukraine
and Syria and Republican congressional opposition to removing sanctions on
Russia, removes Trump's most ardent advocate of taking a softer line toward
Russian President Vladimir Putin.
His leaving
"may make a significant course change less likely, at least any time
soon," the official said.
Another
official said Flynn's departure may strengthen the hands of some cabinet
secretaries, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson.
However, the
second official said, Flynn's departure could also reinforce the power of
presidential aides Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller, whom he described as
already having the president's ear.
Congressional
Democrats expressed alarm at the developments surrounding Flynn and called for
a classified briefing by administration officials to explain what had happened.
"We are
communicating this request to the Department of Justice and FBI this
evening," said Democratic representatives John Conyers of Michigan and
Elijah Cummings of Maryland.
U.S.
Representative Adam Schiff of California, ranking Democrat on the House
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said Flynn's departure does not end
the questions over his contacts with the Russians.
"The
Trump administration has yet to be forthcoming about who was aware of Flynn's
conversations with the ambassador and whether he was acting on the instructions
of the president or any other officials, or with their knowledge."
*REUTERS*
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