Trump Says He Knew Michael Flynn Lied To The FBI

WASHINGTON, DC — President Trump tweeted Saturday afternoon that he knew former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty Friday to making false statements to the FBI, had lied to federal investigators while he was working at the White House.

"I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI," Trump tweeted. "He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!"

Flynn spoke to Russian agents in December of 2016 during the transition, and he and the Trump team said that those conversations were not about policy. Flynn has now confessed that his description of those conversations, which he gave to the FBI, were false. He pleaded guilty Friday of making lying to FBI.

Responses on Twitter said that given former FBI Director James Comey's testimony that Trump urged him to let the investigation into Flynn's actions go, the president may have tweeted an admission that he obstructed justice when he fired Comey.

"Are you ADMITTING you knew Flynn had lied to the FBI when you asked Comey to back off Flynn?" asked the former Director of the Office of Government Ethics Walter Shaub on Twitter. Shaub resigned from the office after Trump's inauguration because of his frustration with what he perceived as a lack of interest in observing ethical rules under the administration.

Trump fired Comey as FBI director after the alleged conversation about Flynn took place and said he did so because the Russia investigation was a hoax. Comey's firing triggered the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel, who brought the charges against Flynn. Multiple reports have suggested that Mueller may be pursuing obstruction of justice charges against members of the administration, including Trump, in connection with Comey's firing.

Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California tweeted about the president's admission of Saturday: "THIS IS OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE."

Susan Hennessey, the executive editor of Lawfare, similarly said that Trump's statement was a "pretty substantial confession to essential knowledge elements of an obstruction of justice charge."

When Flynn was forced to resign from the administration, the White House did not say he had lied to the FBI. Instead, then-Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the president could no longer trust Flynn because he had misled the Vice President Pence, a failing Spicer seemed to blame on a faulty memory.

"There was nothing in what General Flynn did, in terms of conducting himself, that was an issue," Spicer said. "What it came down to, plain and simple, was him misleading the vice president and others, and not having a firm grasp on his recollection of that. That’s it.”

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