House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called on President Donald Trump to fire his national security adviser Michael Flynn “immediately” over his conversations about sanctions with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. before Trump’s inauguration.
“Michael Flynn’s conduct was alarming enough before his secret communications with the Russians were exposed,” Pelosi wrote in a statement Monday. “Now, we have a National Security Advisor who cannot be trusted not to put Putin before America.”
She said that allegations in an explosive 35-page dossier related to Trump “gain credence with each passing day” and accused elected Republicans of being “complicit” in covering up Russian influence over the White House.
“This Administration has exhausted its excuses,” Pelosi said. “National security demands that General Flynn be fired immediately.”
Earlier in February, Pelosi called for an investigation into Trump’s personal and business ties to Russia after he dismissed concerns about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian regime.
“I want to know what the Russians have on Donald Trump,” she said.
Current and former U.S. officials told several news outlets last week that Flynn spoke about sanctions in a call with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak before Trump took office.
Those reports contradicted public statements made by the Trump team, including Vice President Mike Pence, denying that Flynn spoke about U.S. sanctions with Russian officials before Trump’s inauguration.
On Sunday, ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said it would be “appropriate” to revoke Flynn’s security clearance in response.
White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller ducked questions the same day regarding whether the President still had confidence in Flynn.
“That’s a question that I think you should ask the President, the question you should ask Reince, the chief of staff,” he said. “They did not give me anything to say.”
