UPDATE 11:45 am: President Barack Obama warned Donald Trump against hiring Michael Flynn as national security adviser in the days after the 2016 election. That’s according to three former Obama administration officials. The warning came during an Oval Office meeting between Obama and Trump after the Republican’s victory. Flynn had been fired by the Obama administration as the head of the military’s intelligence branch.
WASHINGTON — (AP) President Donald Trump is distancing himself from Michael Flynn’s troubles, tweeting that it was the Obama administration that gave Flynn the “highest security clearance.”
Flynn was dismissed under President Barack Obama as defense intelligence chief before becoming an ardent supporter of Trump and eventually Trump’s national security adviser.
Sally Yates, former deputy attorney general, is expected to testify Monday that she had warned the White House about contacts between Flynn and Russia before being fired by Trump.
Trump tweeted Monday that Flynn was “given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration – but the Fake News seldom likes talking about that.”
General Flynn was given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration – but the Fake News seldom likes talking about that.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017
In a second tweet, Trump said Yates should be asked under oath “if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers” soon after she raised concerns about Flynn.
Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. Council.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017
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