A Pence ally calls Flynn’s actions part of a “pattern” of “malpractice or intentional” misleading of the vice president.
By Gabrielle Levy, US News
Vice President Mike Pence contends he was never made aware that former national security adviser Michael Flynn was under federal investigation during the presidential transition, in contrast to a New York Times report that said Pence, who led the transition, knew Flynn had worked as a paid lobbyist for Turkey.
The Times reported Flynn had disclosed his work lobbying for Turkey on Jan. 4, to Don McGahn, the transition’s lead lawyer and now the White House counsel, about a month after the Department of Justice notified Flynn he was under investigation.
“The vice president stands by his comments in March upon first hearing the news regarding General Flynn’s ties to Turkey and fully supports the president’s decision to ask for General Flynn’s resignation,” Pence’s office said in a statement Thursday.
A source described to NBC News Flynn’s failure to disclose his ties to Turkey – for which he was paid $500,000 – as part of a “pattern” of “malpractice, or intentional, and either are unacceptable.”
“It’s also a fact that if he told McGahn that during the transition, it’s also a fact that not only was Pence not made aware of that, no one around Pence was as well,” the source said.
Word that the transition had been aware of Flynn’s work added to a cascade of legal issues Flynn has dropped onto to President Donald Trump’s embattled White House as the president prepares to leave for his first foreign trip.
For Pence, it is particularly troublesome. As head of the transition, he should have been made aware, and his denials make him either look like he was not in control of the operation or has been misleading the public.
Flynn put Pence in a similarly difficult situation in having several conversations with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the U.S., that involved the possibility of lifting economic sanctions on Moscow. The vice president made multiple public statements insisting that those conversations never took place, despite then-acting Attorney General Sally Yates informing the White House in late January that the conversations had taken place. It was only after The Washington Post reported the conversations – and that Flynn had kept Pence in the dark – on Feb. 9 that Flynn was fired several days later.
The White House has come under fire for keeping Flynn for 18 days after they knew he had lied to Pence, making him compromised and vulnerable to Russian blackmail, including allowing him to take part in classified briefings.
The revelation he was paid by the Turkish government took on additional weight by reports Flynn used his influence to delay action on a military plan concocted by President Barack Obama’s national security team. Ten days before Trump took office, the Obama team came to Trump’s for sign-off on a decision to move to retake Raqqa, the Islamic State group’s de facto capital, by arming the Kurdish YPG and the Syrian Democratic Forces, whom Turkey considers terrorist groups, and were denied on Flynn’s recommendation, according to a McClatchy report this week.
A current senior defense official told CNN that plans, which were announced last week, had not been delayed.
The action was opposed by Turkey, and was eventually approved weeks after Flynn was fired, raising concerns Flynn was acting on behalf of a foreign government.
The White House has denied knowledge of Flynn’s work for Turkey.
