White House: Donald Trump Had Lost Trust in Michael Flynn

The White House spokesperson stated that the President of the United States had asked Michael Flynn to resign from his position as National Security Advisor because his level of trust in Flynn had reached a point where a change was deemed necessary. According to Reuters, Sean Spicer said to reporters one day after Flynn's resignation that Donald Trump was concerned that Flynn had misled Vice President about his contacts with Russian officials prior to the new administration taking office. On Tuesday, February 15, he added that the President had been reviewing Flynn's situation for several weeks. The National Security Advisor of the United States resigned on Monday, just a few weeks after media controversies regarding his connections and negotiations with Russian officials, and Keith Kellogg was appointed as his interim successor. Concurrently, as some representatives and senators in Congress called for investigations into how much Flynn discussed the possibility of lifting U.S. sanctions against Russia with the country's ambassador, the White House spokesperson stated that the legal advisor had examined the matter and believed that Flynn's case was 'not a legal issue but a matter of trust.' Spicer said that when the President learned about Flynn's conversation with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador in Washington, he asked the White House legal advisor to investigate the issue. He stated, 'The issue is clearly related to the loss of trust.' According to the White House spokesperson, Mr. Trump did not ask Flynn to discuss U.S. sanctions against Russia with the Russian diplomat. An American official told the Associated Press that on the day the Obama administration imposed new sanctions against Russia for its cyber interference in last year's presidential election, Michael Flynn had contacted the Russian ambassador in Washington multiple times and discussed the necessity of Moscow not reacting and the reduction of sanctions in the future. Despite the fact that the Obama administration expelled 35 Russian diplomats from Washington in December, Moscow stated that it would not retaliate. Reports suggest that this Russian reaction may be a result of Flynn's negotiations with the Russian ambassador. The Russian government confirmed Flynn's contact with its ambassador but denied that the content of their discussions was about lifting sanctions against Russia. The White House spokesperson said on Tuesday that 'comprehensive and thorough investigations' had been conducted regarding the National Security Advisor's situation. Mr. Spicer added that the Justice Department had informed the White House about Flynn's discussions with the Russian ambassador on January 26.