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.