Flynn reportedly still heard CIA secrets, despite concerns about blackmail

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 21 June 2017

Even when officials with the FBI, CIA, Department of Justice, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence were convinced in January that Michael Flynn, President Trump's national security adviser, was vulnerable to Russian blackmail, CIA Director Mike Pompeo briefed Trump on the most sensitive intelligence and issues facing the United States, with Flynn listening next to him, The New York Times reports.

When asked last month by senators if he knew about the CIA's concerns surrounding Flynn, Pompeo declined to answer; an administration official told the Times he never discussed Flynn with Trump. Three days after Pompeo was sworn in on Jan. 23, then-acting Attorney General Sally Yates warned the White House that Flynn, who had been talking with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., had been "compromised" and could be subject to blackmail.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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