Dem: Trump should release transcripts of Flynn’s Russia calls

Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) says President Trump should make public his national security adviser’s phone conversations with Russia’s ambassador.

“President Trump still has not commented on the behavior of one of his top aides,” Cicilline, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement Monday. “It is time for this administration to tell the truth.”

“Release the transcripts of Michael Flynn’s calls with the Russian ambassador,” he continued. 

{mosads}“Let the American people judge [Flynn’s] conduct for themselves. These allegations are incredibly serious and continued silence is not an acceptable option for this White House.”

Cicilline said Flynn’s reported talks with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions before Trump’s inauguration “directly undercut” former President Barack Obama.

“They sent a clear message that the Kremlin would not be held accountable for interfering in the 2016 election,” he said of Flynn and Kislyak’s alleged discussions.

“And now these actions are raising serious questions about Michael Flynn’s fitness for office,” Cicilline added. 

Flynn, a former Army lieutenant general, reportedly has neither plans to resign his post nor expectations that he will be fired despite growing concern over his conversations with Kislyak in December.

“The knives are out,” a senior administration official told CNN Monday. “There’s a lot of unhappiness about this.”

Reports emerged last week that Flynn and Kislyak discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia before Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

Current and former U.S. officials seemingly contradicted Flynn’s claims that he never discussed the subject with Kislyak during a series of phone calls in December, the same month the Obama administration imposed fresh sanctions against Russia following revelations it conducted an influence campaign during the 2016 U.S. presidential race in an effort to help Trump.

Two U.S. officials told The Washington Post Thursday that Flynn led Kislyak to believe the sanctions would be reevaluated once Trump entered office.

“Kislyak was left with the impression that the sanctions would be revisited at a later time,” one official said.

Trump told his press pool on Friday he did not know about Flynn’s alleged actions, adding he would “look into” them immediately.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called Monday for Flynn to be fired immediately.