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You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition - May 17, 2017
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This is the May 17, 2017, edition of an email sent from November 2016 to September 2017 that covered Donald Trump's presidential transition, cabinet appointees, and the different policy positions of those individuals who may have had an effect on the new administration. Previous editions of "You're Hired" can be found here.
Last week, we outlined the events leading up to President Donald Trump firing James Comey from his post as director of the FBI. On Tuesday night, The New York Times reported that Trump had asked Comey to halt the investigation into possible ties between former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and the Russian government, according to a memo Comey wrote after the conversation in February. The New York Times did not have a copy of the memo and based its reporting on conversations with Comey’s associates.
Today, we will review the events leading up to the Flynn investigation, the contents of the Comey memo, and the political response to The New York Times report.
Who is Michael Flynn?
Flynn is a retired lieutenant general in the U.S. Army and the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. He served as the national security adviser under the Trump administration for 24 days until he was asked to resign.
Why did Flynn resign?
Flynn resigned from his post on February 13, 2017, amid reports that he had discussed sanctions imposed against Russia under the Obama administration with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador, last December, and failed to disclose the contents of that conversation to Vice President Mike Pence. Flynn’s talk of sanctions with Kislyak could have been illegal under the Logan Act, which bars private citizens from intervening in diplomatic disputes between the U.S. and foreign governments without permission.
When did the Trump administration learn of Flynn’s conduct?
According to former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates’ testimony before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary this month, the Trump administration was made aware of Flynn’s conduct in January. When Yates learned that White House officials, including Pence, were making inaccurate statements to the public about Flynn’s conversation with Kislyak, she met with White House counsel Donald McGahn twice to inform him that Flynn had lied.
She warned that Flynn could be susceptible to blackmail from the Russian government. "Well, our point was—is that logic would tell you that you don't want the national security adviser to be in a position where the Russians have leverage over him. Now, in terms of what impact that may have or could have had, I can't speak to that, but we knew that was not a good situation, which is why we wanted to let the White House know about it," she said.
Why is Flynn under investigation?
As part of the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, Flynn’s business dealings have come under close scrutiny. In his initial ethics and financial disclosure forms in January, for example, Flynn did not report payments he had received from three Russia-related entities: Kaspersky Government Security Solutions, Volga-Dnepr Airline, and RT.
In March, Flynn also retroactively registered as a foreign agent for lobbying work he had done in 2016 to advance the interests of a Turkish-owned company and possibly the Turkish government. Flynn could have broken conflict of interest rules by simultaneously maintaining this business relationship and his involvement in the Trump campaign, which included attending intelligence briefings when Trump was a candidate.
What is the Comey memo?
Throughout his career at the FBI, Comey often recorded contemporaneous accounts of discussions related to sensitive investigations or otherwise important situations. The two-page memo at the center of The New York Times story was reportedly written after Comey met Trump privately in the Oval Office in February.
According to Comey, Trump said at this meeting, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”
What if Trump asked Comey to end the investigation?
Some members of Congress suggested on Tuesday night that if The New York Times report were accurate, then Trump may have improperly attempted to influence the investigation into Flynn.
Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) said, “This stunning, breathtaking revelation that the president is accused of reaching out directly to the head of the FBI to stop an investigation on General Flynn under these circumstances raises serious questions of obstruction of justice.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tweeted, “At best, Trump has committed a grave abuse of executive power. At worst, he has obstructed justice. We must #ProtectOurDemocracy.”
Speaking at the International Republican Institute's 2017 Freedom Dinner, John McCain (R-Ariz.) said of the news, “I think it's reaching the point where it's of Watergate size and scale, and a couple of other scandals we've seen.”
There are several federal statutes that criminalize the obstruction of justice—that is, any attempt to intentionally obstruct, influence, or impede an official proceeding. Essential to an obstruction of justice case is proving the actor’s intent. As The New York Times reported last week, “Obstruction of justice cases often come down to whether prosecutors can prove what a defendant’s mental state was when he or she committed the act, legal specialists said. It is not enough to show that a defendant knew the act would have a side consequence of impeding an investigation; achieving that obstruction has to have been the specific intention.”
How has the White House responded?
The White House denied Comey’s account of the meeting in the following statement: “While the president has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn. The president has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies, and all investigations. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr. Comey.”
What comes next?
Members of Congress have issued several different calls for action in response to the story:
- Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) tweeted last night that the House Oversight Committee “is going to get the Comey memo, if it exists. I need to see it sooner rather than later. I have my subpoena pen ready.”
- Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, “I think the burden is on The New York Times, if they’re reporting it and they’ve got somebody who’s got the document. They need to get the document and get it released.”
- All 33 Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee requested in a letter last night that a joint investigation be launched into the matter, the White House subpoenaed for related documents and recordings, and Comey called to testify. Last week, Trump suggested in a tweet that his conversations with Comey might have been recorded. He wrote that Comey “better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” Such a recording could corroborate either Trump’s or Comey’s account of the conversation.
- Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) said that he intended to call for Trump’s impeachment on the House floor on Wednesday morning.
See also
- You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition
- Donald Trump presidential transition team
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