Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday suggested it's reasonable to believe the government's vetting of ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn simply didn't catch the fact that he'd made tens of thousands of dollars off his work for foreign governments. Sessions said in a series of television interviews on Today and Good Morning America that he's confident Trump's transition team, which was tasked with vetting Flynn, is doing "the best they can." "We need to do a good job of vetting that," Sessions said, but paid foreign government work is "a complex issue, and I'm not sure anyone could be expected to find that."
The heads of the House Oversight Committee revealed this week that Flynn may have broken the law by failing to inform the U.S. government of his work or disclose his payments. Flynn made an estimated $56,200 in 2015 from three firms with ties to the Russian government. His lobbying company also reportedly made more than $500,000 for its work on behalf of the Turkish government.
Flynn served as Trump's national security adviser for just 24 days before stepping down, after it was revealed he'd misled Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. After he was forced to resign, Flynn registered as a foreign agent, which he'd apparently been advised to do previously.
Sessions noted Friday that he is not involved in investigating Flynn. He said he's certain the Justice Department will "do their responsibility, whatever that is." Catch a snippet of Sessions' Good Morning America interview below. Becca Stanek