WASHINGTON — Even though he named Michael Flynn to be his top national security aide, President Donald Trump on Friday laid the blame for flaws in Flynn’s vetting at the feet of his predecessor.
In an interview airing Friday evening on Fox News Channel’s “The First 100 Days,” Trump tried to deflect recent criticism of his decision to appoint Flynn as national security adviser despite Flynn’s past lobbying on behalf of Turkish government interests and his acceptance of tens of thousands of dollars from a Russian state-sponsored television network.
“When they say we didn’t vet, well Obama I guess didn’t vet, because he was approved at the highest level of security by the Obama administration,” Trump said, referring to the previous administration’s approval of Flynn’s security clearance.
“So when he came into our administration, for a short period of time, he came in, he was already approved by the Obama administration and he had years left on that approval,” Trump added.
Though Flynn was indeed with the Trump administration for a short period before he was forced out, he campaigned vigorously for Trump for months during the 2016 election battle, including a fiery speech at the Republican National Convention in which he joined in as the crowd jeered Democrat Hillary Clinton. “Lock her up, that’s right,” he called out, applauding the delegates’ chants.
President Barack Obama fired Flynn from his post as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, but Flynn maintained a security clearance that was reissued in January 2016. Trump appointed Flynn as national security adviser in January. He sacked him in February, saying Flynn had misled senior administration officials, including the vice president, about his contacts with Russian officials.
Trump’s comments echoed the defense advanced by his press secretary Sean Spicer on Thursday, as the Pentagon’s watchdog confirmed it was investigating Flynn, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, over whether he failed to get U.S. government approval to receive foreign payments.
