After President Donald Trump's former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents about his contacts with the Russian ambassador during the transition period, the White House seemed to distance itself from Flynn by throwing former President Barack Obama under the bus.
"Today, Michael Flynn, a former National Security Advisor at the White House for 25 days during the Trump Administration, and a former Obama administration official, entered a guilty plea to a single count of making a false statement to the FBI," White House lawyer Ty Cobb said in a statement on Friday, per press pool reports.
The statement continued, "The false statements involved mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in his resignation in February of this year. Nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn. The conclusion of this phase of the Special Counsel's work demonstrates again that the Special Counsel is moving with all deliberate speed and clears the way for a prompt and reasonable conclusion."
But by needlessly pointing out that Flynn did indeed work for, and was then fired from, the Obama administration drastically downplays the relationship between Flynn and Trump.
It was even reported that Obama explicitly warned Trump about the potential risks involved in hiring Flynn. There's also no mention in Cobb's statement that Flynn continued to work as a top Trump official two weeks after the the administration was informed about his lie.
Papers over the fact that Flynn remained in his job more than two weeks after admin was informed he lied. https://t.co/mio4t6Wy1t
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) December 1, 2017
On the campaign trail, Flynn was a staunch supporter of Trump and served as a close adviser. He attended rallies and also led "Lock her up!" chants at the Republican National Convention in July 2016.
Flashback to Michael Flynn on the campaign trail with Trump in Jacksonville, Fla., ripping Clinton. "She lied again. ... Unbelievable."https://t.co/BzMQ63WXji
— Alex Leary (@learyreports) December 1, 2017
Reminder: Flynn chanted “lock her up” at the RNC, said “If I did a tenth, a tenth of what she did, I would be in jail.” pic.twitter.com/AQY79rlzhm
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 1, 2017
Look for Sarah Sanders to say Michael Flynn was just a low level campaign volunteer who mostly made coffee and that Trump has never heard of him. pic.twitter.com/JiEjp8dNPW — Sean Kent (@seankent) December 1, 2017
Pointing the finger at Obama is almost a default move for Trump at this point, as he has either blamed his predecessor or attempted to slight him at any opportunity he gets.
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