Michael Flynn steps down as President Donald Trump’s
National Security Adviser amid new revelations about telephone calls with the
Russian ambassador to the U.S.
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Flynn Steps Down Over Russia Controversy
By Rob Quinn
National Security Adviser Michael Flynn in the White House Monday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
He's out after 24 days as national security adviser
(Newser) – Michael Flynn has stepped down as national
security adviser less than a month into the Trump administration. Flynn
abruptly resigned Monday night after coming under increasing pressure over his
conversations with Russia's ambassador to the US while Trump was
president-elect, CNN reports. "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, adding that he has performed his duties "with the
utmost of integrity and honesty" in his White House role and during his 33
years in the military.
Sources tell the New York Times that Pence told others in
the White House that he believed Flynn had been lying when he said he hadn't
discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador in a conversation that would
have broken the law as well as protocol. The Washington Post reports that
President Trump accepted Flynn's resignation and appointed retired Army Lt.
Gen. Keith Kellogg as acting national security adviser. An insider tells the
Post that Flynn's resignation after 24 days in the job was his own decision,
and that Trump had been planning to wait at least a few days before deciding
whether to fire him. "I think Flynn just figured, if it’s imminent to the
boss, then let’s make it immediate," the source says.
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President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a joint news conference at the White House.
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The Senate votes 53-47 to confirm ex-Goldman Sachs financier Steven Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary, the seventh member of Trump’s cabinet to be approved.
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Russian spy ship capable of intercepting communications is patrolling off the East Coast of the US right now, for the first time since President Trump took office.
