USADaily -
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said today that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn deserved “due process” before the White House acted on reports that he had been compromised by the Russians.
Yes, the same due process that Sally Yates was offered before she was summarily fired.
Spicer’s claim comes one day after former acting- Attorney General Sally Yates testified to the Senate that she had warned the Trump White House counsel twice on two separate days that Flynn had been compromised, and was subject to blackmail by the Russians.
The White House did nothing for 18 days, until the story broke in the Washington Post and Trump was forced to fire Flynn out of embarrassment. Had the Post story not broke, a compromised General Flynn might still be in the White House today.
But most troubling is Spicer’s bizarre claim today that Flynn deserved “due process” before the White House acted. Nothing could be further from the truth.
You don’t ignore people with top-level security clearances for 18 days after you have been warned by the nation’s top law enforcement official that they may have been compromised by a foreign adversary of the United States. You don’t throw Michael Flynn in jail, either — you need to have the matter investigated. But, contrary to Spicer’s claims today, there is a middle choice between giving a compromised Flynn full access to our nation’s deepest and darkest secrets, in the Oval Office no less, and throwing the man in Gitmo.
The White House could have easily put Flynn on administrative leave and temporarily revoked his security clearance, pending investigation. There is no other option when the acting- Attorney General reports that a top aide to the president has been compromised.
Had President Trump received a credible threat that a top aide might be planning to physically harm him, would the White House give the aide his “due process” for 18 days, cuz, you know, it’d be unfair to remove him from the President’s inner circle until we were sure he was an assassin?
The bottom line is that Donald Trump is his own man, and couldn’t care less what the facts are in any given situation. Trump liked Flynn, and it didn’t matter to him that there were credible reports that Flynn was at risk of being turned, or already having been turned, as a Russian agent. This is another sign of Trump’s incredible hubris, and how his arrogance leads to incredible recklessness.
It’s also, quite possibly, a sign that Trump himself is compromised. What other reason could there be for Trump’s ongoing denial of all things Russia? Trump is still bending over backwards to defend Putin’s role in the 2016 election. And in the case of Michael Flynn, Trump’s desire to defend Vladimir Putin put America’s security at risk.
The question is why? It sounds like Donald Trump is deathly afraid of what a real Russia probe would find. And that is why we must have one. Add your name below to those demanding the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Russia’s involvement in the 2016 campaign.
Source
