Trump claims no one told him not to hire Michael Flynn. Obama did.
If only someone who wasn't former President Barack Obama had raised some red flags about Michael Flynn.
On Friday, President Trump dug up an old complaint about his quickly disgraced national security adviser, tweeting that "it now seems the General Flynn was under investigation long before was common knowledge" and questioning why he wasn't told about it. Except it's public knowledge that Obama fired Flynn, and that he warned Trump against bringing him back on.
Trump's tweet disregards a two-year-old NBC News report that said Obama told Trump not to hire Flynn "less than 48 hours" after Trump won the presidency. Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer later admitted that Trump knew Obama "wasn't exactly a fan" of Flynn.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump hired and quickly fired Flynn as national security adviser in the early days of his presidency. Flynn later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, and eventually gave interviews to Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Trump's tweet is likely tied to the Thursday revelation that Flynn told investigators that people with ties to the Trump administration and Congress contacted him in an attempt to interfere with the Russia probe. Mueller included that information in newly unredacted court papers.
-
Minnesota's legal system buckles under Trump's ICE surgeIN THE SPOTLIGHT Mass arrests and chaotic administration have pushed Twin Cities courts to the brink as lawyers and judges alike struggle to keep pace with ICE’s activity
-
Big-time money squabbles: the conflict over California’s proposed billionaire taxTalking Points Californians worth more than $1.1 billion would pay a one-time 5% tax
-
‘The West needs people’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump links funding to name on Penn StationSpeed Read Trump “can restart the funding with a snap of his fingers,” a Schumer insider said
-
Trump reclassifies 50,000 federal jobs to ease firingsSpeed Read The rule strips longstanding job protections from federal workers
-
Is the Gaza peace plan destined to fail?Today’s Big Question Since the ceasefire agreement in October, the situation in Gaza is still ‘precarious’, with the path to peace facing ‘many obstacles’
-
Vietnam’s ‘balancing act’ with the US, China and EuropeIn the Spotlight Despite decades of ‘steadily improving relations’, Hanoi is still ‘deeply suspicious’ of the US as it tries to ‘diversify’ its options
-
Trump demands $1B from Harvard, deepening feudSpeed Read Trump has continually gone after the university during his second term
-
Trump’s Kennedy Center closure plan draws ireSpeed Read Trump said he will close the center for two years for ‘renovations’
-
Trump's ‘weaponization czar’ demoted at DOJSpeed Read Ed Martin lost his title as assistant attorney general
-
Gabbard faces questions on vote raid, secret complaintSpeed Read This comes as Trump has pushed Republicans to ‘take over’ voting
