President Trump furiously insists Flynn's resignation isn't 'the real story' — 'illegal leaks' are

President Donald Trump had been uncharacteristically quiet for the nearly 12 hours since the White House accepted Gen. Michael Flynn's resignation as national security adviser following reports that he had lied to the vice president.

No longer: "The real story here," Trump insisted, "is why there are so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington?"

Trump's tweet comes shortly after Kellyanne Conway made the rounds attempting to explain why the White House did not act to oust Flynn until the allegations against him became public. Three weeks ago, former acting Attorney General Sally Yates had privately warned the Trump White House that she believed Flynn discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office, and that he could be vulnerable to Russian blackmail. The Washington Post first publicized similar accusations Thursday, alleging that Flynn had the conversations with the Russian ambassador and misled Vice President Mike Pence about them.

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After the initial Post report was published, it took Flynn 97 hours to offer his resignation, which he reportedly did without a request from President Trump.