The Note: Flynn's out, but Questions Remain

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February 15, 2017

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Flynn's out, but questions remain

The Big Story

"Evolving and eroding level of trust." That's the official White House line on what cost Michael Flynn his job as National Security Adviser. It's also an apt phrase to describe the White House itself, in terms of its relationship with the press, the public, and Congress, for starters. Even leaving aside "alternative facts" for a moment, consider the Flynn affair itself: shifting explanations for what he said, and what he said about what he said. There's even new acknowledgements that President Trump knew three weeks ago that Flynn had misled his vice president but didn't act on it until Monday night. Now comes a New York Times report that Trump campaign officials and associates "had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials" during the campaign. And the public is supposed to just believe the president's casual denial that nothing like this happened? The Flynn matter has exposed rivalries and weaknesses inside the White House. It has also woken congressional watchdogs from their post-election slumber – for good reason.

The Sleeper Story

At first glance, President Trump's most substantive Twitter response to the events of the last few days seems like an attempt to deflect: "The real story here is why there are so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington?" Yes, that's easier to address than the substance of what's emerging – until we get into leak investigations. But doesn't the president have a point? The public is learning an inordinate if not unprecedented amount of information about highly sensitive and classified information – the existence and even substance of secret (and secretly surveilled) phone conversations, details of active FBI and intelligence investigations, preliminary drafts of White House proposals. The president is right that there appears to be an effort, from deep inside the federal bureaucracy, to undermine him by exposing the inner workings of the new administration. You can argue that Trump deserves some of it, based on either his policies or his declarations against the intelligence community. (Don't forget the "Nazi Germany" comment, because you know intelligence pros don't.) But a scary consequence of these last few weeks could be a permanent presidential mistrust of intelligence and law-enforcement officials – a dangerous road for the president to be on.

The Shiny Story

It's hard to imagine the news environment where the visit of the Israeli prime minister is a sideshow, a kind of distraction that the White House actually hopes gets coverage on Wednesday. But with the Russians rattling national-security cages, and testing by the Iranians and North Koreans of the new administration, Middle East peace is actually kind of a respite. The White House is sending word that it might not insist on a two-state solution; "maybe, maybe not" is diplo-speak, nowadays, apparently. Bibi and Donald get to project strength and togetherness – until or unless they get a real question or two.

TLDR

The latest stunning development in the relationship between the president and his aides and Russia came last night in a New York Times report revealing that Trump campaign officials and associates "had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials" during the campaign. It just reveals more questions about that relationship, communications, and much more. Questions that will keep getting asked.

Trump associates communicated with suspected Russian intelligence officials ahead of election: sources

U.S. authorities were concerned with and probing communications between associates of President Donald Trump and suspected Russian intelligence officials in the leadup to the 2016 presidential election, sources familiar with the matter confirm to ABC News. The news comes just a day after Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned amid questions about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador during the transition and continuing inquiries about the administration's relationship with Russia, ABC's ADAM KELSEY notes. http://abcn.ws/2l6z7ug

VP Mike Pence kept out of the loop for 2 weeks

When the Department of Justice notified President Donald Trump and White House staff in January about concerns over National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's contact with the Russian ambassador, Vice President Mike Pence was kept out of the loop, only learning about the matter last week through media reports, according to Pence's press secretary. Pence was made aware that he received "incomplete" information from Flynn only after reading a report about the circumstances in the Washington Post last Thursday and asking about the situation, report ABC's MEGHAN KENEALLY and ADAM KELSEY. http://abcn.ws/2ldF8Iq

FBI interviewed Flynn about his talks with Russian ambassador

In the days following the inauguration of President Donald Trump, the Federal Bureau of Investigation interviewed then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to discuss his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., according to multiple government officials. ABC News has previously reported that Flynn's communications with Russia, including with its ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, have been examined as part of a broad counterintelligence investigation into contacts between the Trump team and Russians. This is the first confirmation that the FBI spoke with Flynn directly. ABC's CECILIA VEGA, MIKE LEVINE and ADAM KELSEY have more: http://abcn.ws/2lO2lOH

Did Trump Campaign Have Contact With Russia?

ABC's Jonathan Karl tweeted yesterday: "Today I asked @PressSec about contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia. He stood by earlier denials. Or I think he did. You tell me." Here's the exchange between Sean Spicer and Karl: ABC'S JONATHAN KARL: Back in January, the President said that nobody in his campaign had been in touch with the Russians. Now, today, can you still say that nobody in the Trump campaign, not even General Flynn, had any contact with the Russians before the election? SEAN SPICER: My understanding is that what Gen. Flynn has now expressed is that during the transition period- well we were very clear that during the transition period, he did speak with the ambassador- KARL: I'm talking about during the campaign. SPICER: I don't have any - there's nothing that would conclude me that anything different has changed with respect to that time period. WATCH: http://abcn.ws/2lOTg8d

Today at the White House

President Trump hosts a listening session with the Retail Industry Leaders Association and member company CEOs. Then, President Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House. At 12:00 p.m., the two leaders hold a joint press conference. After the press conference, Trump and Netanyahu will meet privately, followed by a working lunch. Trump also has a scheduled call with President Mauricio Macri of Argentina. In the evening, the Trumps host Senator Marco Rubio and Mrs. Rubio for dinner.