Michael Flynn, national security adviser in Trump's administration, may be in hot waters. To this day, Flynn still has a difficult time shaking off the controversy circling the fact that he talked to Russian officials before Trump officially took office. Some of the influential officials in the White House are concerned about the subject of conversation.
The White House top officials are troubled about the subject of lifting US sanctions on Russia now that Trump has become president. Not only is the subject a sensitive matter, but Flynn also has another big problem to deal with. Specifically, there is a law that states that private citizens are not allowed to engage talks concerning foreign policy.
Flynn was the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. He is also a retired US Army general and an early supporter of Donald Trump. Since the early days of the campaign, he was the leading advocate when it came to improving US and Russia relations.
Weeks before Trump took office, Flynn initially denied discussing foreign policy and sanctions with Russian officials. In fact, Vice President Mike Pence went to the television cameras to defend Flynn.
The controversy began to pick up again when The Washington Post reported that Flynn did have discussions with the Russian officials about the sanctions. According to an administration official, there is a possibility that Flynn may have discussed the subject, but they are not 100% sure about it.
Another administration official who chooses to remain anonymous said that Pence defended Flynn basing on their previous conversations. Now, Pence is troubled by the fact that he may have been misled. The first administration official released a statement where Flynn apologized to the Vice President and the others about the incident.
The controversy caused Reince Priebus, chief of staff of the White House, to review the matters, especially now that Trump just hosted Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minister, over the weekend down in Florida. A lot of media sources were asking for the White House's comment on the issue, but got no response.
An administration official stated that according to the transcript, Flynn's conversation with the Russian officials never mentioned anything related to sanction lifting. Rather, it was more of a general comment. Flynn simply stated that he was hoping that the United States and Russian relations would improve.
For the majority of the officials in the White House, they know that Flynn is treading thin ice. However, he is not in any immediate danger of losing his position.
The real question is - Is he really not in trouble? In fact, there's no one out there who is loudly and assertively speaking up for him. Stephen Miller, Trump's senior policy adviser, was recently asked on "Meet The Press" about Trump's trust in Flynn. Miller avoided the question, stating that it's not his place to tell the people what is on the President's mind.
