WH dodges on whether Trump knew Flynn lied to FBI

by Jordan Fabian - 12/05/17 3:50 PM ET

The White House on Tuesday would not say whether President Trump knew Michael Flynn lied to the FBI about conversations with Russia when Trump fired Flynn from his position as national security adviser.

“The president knew that [Flynn] lied to the vice president. That was the reason for his firing,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at her daily press briefing.

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When asked again to clarify the timeline of events, Sanders declined to say when exactly Trump learned Flynn lied to the FBI.

The comments added confusion to the president’s weekend tweet, in which he said Flynn was fired for lying to the FBI as well as Pence.

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

The claim stunned many in Washington and sent the White House scrambling to explain it.

Legal experts said it could leave Trump vulnerable to charges of obstruction of justice in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.

Trump’s tweet implied he knew Flynn made false statements to the FBI about his talks with Russia’s U.S. ambassador when he fired the top security aide in February.

It also appeared to add new significance to his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, who was investigating Flynn. Comey testified before Congress that Trump had asked him to take it easy on Flynn one day after he was ousted from the White House.

Trump lawyer John Dowd later said he drafted the message — a claim that could limit the president’s legal exposure.