Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Blackmail Is Such An Ugly Word

But that’s what Michael Flynn was vulnerable to after playing footsies with the Russians.

The acting attorney general informed the Trump White House late last month that she believed Michael Flynn had misled senior administration officials about the nature of his communications with the Russian ambassador to the United States, and warned that the national security adviser was potentially vulnerable to Russian blackmail, current and former U.S. officials said.

The message, delivered by Sally Q. Yates and a senior career national security official to the White House counsel, was prompted by concerns that ­Flynn, when asked about his calls and texts with the Russian diplomat, had told Vice ­President-elect Mike Pence and others that he had not discussed the Obama administration sanctions on Russia for its interference in the 2016 election, the officials said. It is unclear what the White House counsel, Donald McGahn, did with the information.

Flynn resigned Monday night in the wake of revelations about his contacts with the Russian ambassador.

This goes back a while; the Trump people knew about this even before Trump was sworn in but apparently they either thought it would blow over or it wouldn’t leak out.  All that mindset does is demonstrate that these folks have no idea how things work in Washington.

This isn’t over; perhaps we’ll be treated to legal action since now we’re finding out that Gen. Flynn was paid by the Russians for his trip to Moscow in 2015.

In addition, the Army has been investigating whether Mr. Flynn received money from the Russian government during a trip he took to Moscow in 2015, according to two defense officials. Such a payment might violate the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits former military officers from receiving money from a foreign government without consent from Congress. The defense officials said there was no record that Mr. Flynn, a retired three-star Army general, filed the required paperwork for the trip.

Stay tuned.

2 barks and woofs on “Blackmail Is Such An Ugly Word

  1. Mr. Flynn gave a speech at the Republican convention where he urged that Secretary Clinton be locked up. All the while he was playing with the Russians. I wonder who should be locked up?

  2. Inquiring minds want to know if our Dear President might also be vulnerable to blackmail by the Russians – or by Flynn (hence the dithering and gentle nudge out the door).

Comments are closed.