'Beyond incompetency': Senator calls for investigation into Michael Flynn's resignation
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat, is one of many U.S. legislators demanding an investigation into why former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was chatting with the Russians — even before Donald Trump had assumed the presidency.
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Former national security adviser Michael Flynn arrives prior to a joint news conference between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb. 13, 2017. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)
U.S. President Donald Trump thinks everyone is being a bit too hard on Michael Flynn.
At a news conference Wednesday, Trump called his former national security advisor a "wonderful man" who has been treated "very, very unfairly." But that won't stop Democrats, and even some Republicans, from pushing hard for an investigation into his resignation — and the administration's relationship with Russia.
Sean Spicer reads White House statement on Michael Flynn's departure
8 years ago
Duration 2:09
U.S. national security adviser Flynn quits after giving 'incomplete information' to VP Pence about discussions with Russian ambassador Flynn, a retired general, was forced to step down from his position on Monday, after it was revealed he had discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador before President Trump assumed office.
Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley is among those calling for a deeper look at the situation. He spoke with As It Happens guest host Helen Mann. Here is part of their conversation.
Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. (Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press) Helen Mann: Senator Merkley, you are among a group of Democrats calling for more information on General Flynn's departure. What is it that you're looking for?
Jeff Merkley: Eleven of us joined in a letter yesterday that called for an independent investigation — an investigation necessary to determine what General Flynn did. Who knew about it and when? In short, what the team in the White House, what they did and when did they do it? To pursue that, we feel it's essential that there be an independent special counsel.
HM: The Senate majority leader said yesterday that it's highly likely the intelligence committee will investigation. Why is that not good enough?
Oregon Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)JM: The intelligence committee certainly can do important work but because their entire conversation is behind closed doors, and because it's extraordinarily difficult to have any findings that they might make be declassified, it is not a process that meets the challenge or the equivalent role of a criminal investigation.
HM: So you listed some of the questions you have. What are your biggest concerns about General Flynn and the White House's handling of the allegations against him?
JM: There's really two issues here that are broader than General Flynn. The first is what type of coordination occurred between the Trump campaign and the Russians. Second of all, after the election, what type of coordination occurred between team Trump and the Russians. Those two both raise very large and important issues. Issues that could involve either criminal conduct in the context of a campaign or criminal conduct in the context of the transition.
HM: So are you expanding then, the request that you made, now that we have this report in The New York Times of contact during the campaign?
JM: It is our belief that it's unlikely, and I'm speaking just for myself, but it seems very unlikely that General Flynn operated solely on his own. He is very close to Steve Bannon. The president is very close to the Russians. There's been a lot of conversations in the campaign that set the stage for the type of conversation that General Flynn is reported to have had regarding the sanctions. This whole issue, or the information regarding the general's telephone call, raises far more questions than it answers.
Vice President Mike Pence (L) shakes hands with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn at the White House on Feb. 10, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) HM: We learned that the president had this information for some time before the departure of General Flynn. Can you summarize your understanding of what happened in the lead up to his resignation, which we now know is a forced resignation?
JM: If we turn the clock back, the framework is that it was late December that President Obama imposed sanctions on Russia and it was the same day that Flynn then proceeded to call and talk to the Russians. Within 24 hours, within the next day, Putin said he wouldn't retaliate, which was quite a surprise to everyone, because that's not the pattern you would expect. Then the president was warned in January that Flynn had misled the vice-president.
JM: This was the result of conversations between a number of leaders of the intelligence committee and Sally Yates, the acting attorney general. Now, what everyone wants to have the president clarify is why, when he was warned on Jan. 26 that the national security advisor had not only misrepresented key facts to the vice-president but also posed a potential security risk, the potential for blackmail by the Russians, why the president did not act immediately to fire him? There's major issues involving the integrity of American campaigns and the integrity of American foreign policy at stake.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, centre right, sits with Michael Flynn, centre left, and others at an exhibition marking the 10th anniversary of RT (Russia Today), the 24-hour English-language TV news channel, in Moscow, in Dec. 2015. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) HM: What kind of message do you think this crisis is sending to the rest of the world about the state of affairs at the top of the U.S. government?
JM: This is showing an administration that is deeply in chaos. It is having a great deal of difficulty of addressing the core issues it ran on. It said it was going to basically drain the swamp, it was going to take on Wall Street, it was going to fight for workers. Those three themes have disappeared. So you have all of that but then you have one incompetent action after another, and then this, which may well go beyond incompetency to criminal conduct.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For more on this story, listen to our full interview with Senator Jeff Merkley.
