Time: 12:12 p.m. CEST Update: 10:32 p.m. CEST
Embed from Getty ImagesThe White House said on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump asked for Michael Flynn’s resignation, the National Public Radio reports. Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary confirmed during news briefing with the White House reporters on Tuesday, where he cited an “evolving and eroding level of trust” with his national security adviser. This differs of the early information about Flynn’s resignation after questions if he talked about sanctions on Russia with a Russian Ambassador in Washington, D.C., misleading then Vice President-elect Mike Pence. “The president was very concerned that Gen. Flynn had misled the vice president and others,” Spicer said on February 14, explaining the president asked for Flynn’s resignation. NPR says, Spicer offered a conflicting timeline about phone call between Flynn and Russian ambassador, and when the Justice Department alerted officials and when the president decided.
The White House national security adviser Micheal Flynn resigned Monday night, after the Justice Department warned the U.S. President Trump that Flynn misled administration on his communication with the Russian ambassador to the United States, CNN.com says.
According to a copy of his resignation letter, obtained by CNN, Flynn writes, “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.”
The resignation happens less than a month into the job, making him one of the shortest-serving senior presidential advisers. Flynn could not refute a Washington Post story about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that pointed out on the conversations about sanctions.
As CNN.com reports, it is illegal for unauthorized private citizens to negotiate with foreign governments on behalf of the United States. Vice President Mike Pence and several senior White House advisers claimed in broadcast interviews, Flynn was not discussing the sanctions. The Post gathered information for the story from nine intelligence officials.
The story and the developments prompt many reactions on social media, among them former high-ranking officials with Obama’s administration took Twitter to express the views on Flynn’s story, asking for further investigations.
Aleksandra Dukovska 