GOP Senators Break From White House On Flynn: ‘He Told A Bald-Faced Lie’

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Two Republican senators on Wednesday disagreed publicly with the White House’s assertion that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was unfairly “ambushed” by FBI agents before he lied to them about his contacts with Russians after the 2016 election. Flynn himself has disputed that assertion, as well.

“He should have been honest with the FBI, he should have been honest with the White House,” Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” adding: “I do” think Flynn lied.

“I see no indication that Mr. Flynn was tricked,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said later in the day on CNN. “He told a bald-faced lie.”

Kennedy added: “I just think he let the country and the President down.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday reiterated the White House’s position: Flynn “was certainly ambushed and the FBI, that we know had clear political bias, we’ve seen that time and time again,” she said.

Asked about Sanders’ line on Flynn, the Louisiana senator said he doesn’t speak for the White House, but repeated “Flynn — 33 years as an Army general, with a deep background in national security — he had to know there was a good chance that the FBI knew about his conversation with the Russian ambassador, and he chose not to tell the truth.”

Watch Lankford and Kennedy’s remarks below:

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