By RYAN SENECAL
Staff Writer
Retired Lt. General Michael Flynn’s career as the National Security Advisor came to a screeching halt last Monday night as he resigned from his post after accusations that he misled several people within the Trump administration.
These people included then Vice President-elect Mike Pence as he prepared to appear on Sunday morning news programs like Meet the Press and Fox News Sunday. The misleading accusations come from the conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States.
The accusations made are that of Flynn discussing sanctions slapped on Russia during the last few weeks of the Obama administration.
When Flynn made these phone calls, he was still a private citizen since Donald Trump had not taken office yet. This is a possible violation of the Logan Act, which dates back to 1799.
This law prohibits private citizens from discussing matters of U.S. foreign policy with other states.
Democrats have been openly criticizing his judgment in his contact with the Russian ambassador. Some have called for a congressional investigation but Republicans have already said they will not waste time and money doing. Like the Democrats when the Benghazi committee was investigating that attack.
It’s funny how when one’s own party is attacked, they automatically become fiscal conservatives.
One thing we don’t know is if Trump ordered Flynn to discuss these sanctions prior to the administration taking office and prior to the general election that took place in November. If he did know, he would certainly be in a lot of trouble. We should know what was said during these phone calls.
Usually when somebody from the U.S. calls a foreign country, U.S. intelligence services listen in on the phone call. When Flynn made the call, it’s unclear whether or not he identified himself.
When a U.S. government official makes a call to a foreign country, especially an adversary like Russia, they are supposed to withhold their identity. Also, the fact that these calls were made are usually classified.
This whole thing was pretty confusing from the beginning. When these accusations arose, Flynn’s spokesperson denied the claims of him discussing foreign policy with Russia while he was a private citizen. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Trump fired Flynn but at the press conference on Thursday, Trump said the media was very unfair to Flynn.
I believe that Congress should investigate Flynn’s actions. The transcripts from those calls should be released to the appropriate members of Congress.
They should also investigate the president’s role in it if he had one. Trump has yet to fill the position of National Security Advisor. Hopefully it’s someone who won’t be so foolish with classified material.
I was worried about Trump appointing Flynn from the beginning. I think the president could have made a better decision in appointing a National Security Advisor, as Flynn is very opinionated.
After all, he did lead cheers to “lock her up!” at the Republican National Convention. Someone needs to be in that position that won’t let his or her opinions get in the way of one of the toughest jobs in the government.
