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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 2017)
Page 8A NATION/WORLD East Oregonian National security adviser Michael Flynn resigns By JULIE PACE, ERIC TUCKER and JILL COLVIN Associated Press WASHINGTON — Pres- ident Donald Trump’s embat- tled national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned late Monday night, following reports that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his contacts with Russia. His departure upends Trump’s senior team after less than one month in office. In a resignation letter, Flynn said he gave Vice Pres- ident Mike Pence and others “incomplete information” about his calls with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. The vice president, apparently relying on information from Flynn, initially said the national security adviser had not discussed sanctions with the Russian envoy, though Flynn later conceded the issue may have come up. Trump named retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg as the acting national security adviser. Kellogg had previ- ously been appointed the National Security Council chief of staff and advised Trump during the campaign. Trump is also considering former CIA Director David Petraeus and Vice Admiral Robert Harward, a U.S. Navy SEAL, for the post, according to a senior administration official. The Trump team’s account of Flynn’s discussions with the Russian envoy changed repeatedly over several weeks, including the number of contacts, the dates of those contacts and ultimately, the content of the conversations. Late last month, the Justice Department warned the White House that Flynn could be in a compromised position as a result of the contradictions between the public depictions of the calls and what intelligence offi- cials knew to be true based on recordings of the conversa- tions, which were picked up as part of routine monitoring of foreign officials communi- cations in the U.S. A U.S. official told The Associated Press that Flynn was in frequent contact with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak on the day the Obama admin- istration slapped sanctions on Russia for election-related hacking, as well as at other times during the transition. An administration offi- cial and two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed the Justice Depart- ment warnings on the condi- tion of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. It was unclear when Trump and Pence learned about the Justice Department outreach. The Washington Post was the first to report the commu- nication between former acting attorney general Sally Yates, a holdover from the Obama administration, and the Trump White House. The Post also first reported last week that Flynn had indeed spoken about sanctions with the Russian ambassador. Trump never voiced public support for Flynn after that initial report, but continued to keep his national security adviser close. Flynn spent the weekend at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and was in the president’s daily briefing and calls with foreign leaders Monday. He sat in the front row of Trump’s news confer- ence with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday afternoon. White House officials sent contradictory messages about Flynn’s status throughout the day. Counselor Kellyanne Conway said Trump had “full confidence” in Flynn, while spokesman Sean Spicer said the president was “evaluating the situation” and consulting with Pence about his conver- sations with the national security adviser. Asked whether the pres- ident had been aware that Flynn might have planned to discuss sanctions with the Russian envoy, Spicer said, “No, absolutely not.” Flynn’s discussions with the Russian raised questions about whether he offered assurances about the incoming administration’s AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File FILE- In this Feb. 1 photo, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn speaks during the daily news briefing at the White House, in Washington. Flynn resigned as President Trump’s national security adviser Monday. new approach. Such conver- sations would breach diplo- matic protocol and possibly violate the Logan Act, a law aimed at keeping citizens from conducting diplomacy. Administration officials said misleading Pence was ultimately Flynn’s downfall, though they insisted he resigned and was not fired by Trump. Flynn was spotted near the Oval Office just after 10 p.m. Monday. As uncertainty about his future swirled, several of the president’s top advisers, including chief of staff Reince Priebus and counsel Don McGahn, ducked in and out of late-night meetings in the West Wing. California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Flynn’s resignation “does not end questions over his contacts with the Russians.” He said the White House has yet to be forthcoming about whether Flynn was acting at the behest of the president or others. Flynn’s resignation comes as Trump and his top advisers seek to steady the White House after a rocky start. The president, who seeks input from a wide range of busi- ness associates, friends and colleagues, has been asking people their opinions on his senior team, including Spicer and chief of staff Reince Priebus. Advisers have privately conceded that the White House spit out too many disparate messages in the first few weeks, though they also note that the president’s own tweets sometimes muddy the day’s plans before most of the White House staff has arrived for work. Trump voiced support for Priebus Monday, saying the chief of staff was doing, “not a good job, a great job.” But he did not make a similar show of support for his national security adviser. Over the weekend, Trump told associates he was trou- bled by Flynn’s situation, but did not say whether he planned to ask him to step down, according to a person who spoke with him recently. Flynn was a loyal Trump supporter during the campaign, but he was viewed skeptically by some in the administration’s national security circles, in part because of his ties to Russia. Tuesday, February 14, 2017 Senate confirms former banker Mnuchin as Treasury secretary WASHINGTON (AP) — A bitterly divided Senate on Monday confirmed Steven Mnuchin as treasury secre- tary despite strong objections by Democrats that the former banker ran a “foreclosure machine” when he headed OneWest Bank. Republicans said Mnuchin’s long tenure in finance makes him qualified to run the department, which will play a major role in developing economic policy under President Donald Mnuchin Trump. “He has experience Trump’s Cabinet picks have managing large and exposed deep partisan divi- complicated private-sector sions in the Republican-con- enterprises and in negoti- trolled Senate, with many of ating difficult compromises the nominees approved by and making tough decisions mostly party-line votes. The vote on Mnuchin — and being accountable for those decisions,” said followed the same pattern. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, He was confirmed by a chairman of the Finance mostly party-line vote of 53-47. Democratic Sen. Joe Committee. Votes on President Donald Manchin of West Virginia joined the Republicans. The Senate also confirmed a less divisive nominee Monday evening, physician David Shulkin, to be secretary of the Depart- ment of Veterans Affairs. The vote was unanimous. Like others in Trump’s Cabinet, Mnuchin is a wealthy businessman. He is a former top executive at Goldman Sachs and served as finance chairman for Trump’s presidential campaign. As Treasury secretary, Mnuchin is expected to play a key role in Republican efforts to overhaul the nation’s tax code for the first time in three decades. Trump has prom- ised to unveil a proposal in the coming weeks. Mnuchin will also be in charge of imposing economic sanctions on foreign govern- ments and individuals, including Russia. Canada’s Trudeau talks trade with Trump WASHINGTON (AP) — A political odd couple, President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resolutely played up their similarities at their first meeting Monday, even as obvious differences lurked behind their public smiles. After their White House meeting, the North Amer- ican neighbors emerged to hail their close ties, with Trump promising to “build upon our very historic friendship” and Trudeau noting the “special” bond between the countries. But it was hard to escape their contrasting worldviews. Speaking to reporters, Trump defended his restric- tive refugee and immigra- tion orders, saying that “we cannot let the wrong people in.” Trudeau, on the other hand, said Canada continues to “pursue our policies of openness.” Trudeau later acknowl- edged that there are times when the two countries differ. But he said, “The last thing Canadians expect is for me to come down and lecture another country on how they chose to govern themselves.” During their post- meeting news conference, the reporters Trump called on did not ask about two pressing issues of the day — the future of embattled National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and North Korea’s reported ballistic missile launch. The stakes for Trudeau in his Washington visit are high: He is seeking to ensure Canada is not crippled as Trump re-nego- tiates the North American Free Trade Agreement. And he got much of what he was looking for. Trump praised the “outstanding” trade relationship between the United States and Canada and said he would only be “tweaking” it going forward. “We’ll be doing certain things that are going to benefit both of our countries. It’s a much less severe situation than what’s taking place on the southern border,” said Trump, who has been strongly critical of Amer- ica’s trade situation with Mexico. Trade relations with the U.S. are crucial to Canada as more than 75 percent of Canada’s exports and 98 percent of its oil exports go to the U.S., while 18 percent of American exports go to Canada.
