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.
Trump didn't do anything about Flynn until 18 days later, when he fired him, but in the meantime, Flynn was still sitting in on Trump's briefings with Pompeo. If Pompeo was aware of the concerns regarding Flynn, he had ample time to notify the president, the Times says, as he gives him the briefing almost every day. Read the entire report at The New York Times.
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