Why That Bizarre Russian Dossier Can't Be Ignored - Joe Conason
To see Michael Flynn depart his White House post in a miasma of misconduct — amid memories of his “lock her up” bluster about Hillary Clinton at the Republican convention last summer — was satisfying. To hear that he might be replaced as national security adviser by someone saner is reassuring.
But Flynn’s ouster is only the first chapter in a potentially historic scandal that has scarcely begun to unfold. The contradictory accounts and explanations offered by presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway, press secretary Sean Spicer, and others around Donald Trump left crucial questions unanswered.
According to the most plausible version, Sally Q. Yates, then the acting attorney general, informed the White House counsel’s office in late January about NSA intercepts of conversations between Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak. Transcripts showed that contrary to public assertions by Flynn — bolstered by Vice President Mike Pence — the retired general and Trump campaign adviser had discussed with the ambassador the possibility of lifting sanctions imposed on Russia by President Obama. Accompanied by a Justice Department national security official, Yates told White House counsel Don McGahn that they feared Flynn might be vulnerable to Russian blackmail.
The same day, McGahn informed Trump and senior aides about Yates’ concerns. But the president did nothing to contain or curtail Flynn for more than two weeks — until he requested the national security adviser’s resignation on February 13. At the next day’s press briefing, Spicer said that the “erosion of trust,” rather than any actual wrongdoing, had forced Flynn’s removal.
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