Tuesday 14 February 2017

Top GOP investigators on the Hill say they won’t investigate Michael Flynn

Posted by sizzledfeed on 08:42

Top GOP investigators on the Hill say they won’t investigate Michael Flynn
Updated by Tara Golshan

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

House Republicans are not eager to investigate Michael Flynn.

House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Jason Chaffetz said his committee will not investigate Flynn’s contact with the Russian government, or the extent of his communications with White House officials.

The former national security adviser resigned Monday over a scandal stemming from a call with the Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in which Flynn talked about sanctions before Donald Trump took office.

"It’s taking care of itself," Chaffetz told reporters Tuesday, according to Politico’s Kyle Cheney, adding that further investigation would be up to the House Intelligence Committee.

But Republican House Intelligence Committee Chair David Nunes said Tuesday that his committee won’t look into conversations between Trump and Flynn, according CNN’s Manu Raju. Nunes cited executive privilege — a privilege typically claimed by the president for withholding information in the public interest.

Flynn resigned Monday amid scandal over a call with the Russian ambassador that he made the same day President Barack Obama’s administration placed new sanctions on Moscow. The sanctions were punishment for interfering in the 2016 presidential election. The White House has been giving a lot of mixed messages about just how much Trump and top officials knew about the call.

Flynn stepped down after a series of leaks revealed he had lied to top White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, about the extent of his conversations with the Russian envoy. On Monday, the Washington Post again reported that the Department of Justice had informed the White House of the dangers of Flynn’s ties with Russia in January. But last week, Trump told reporters he had not heard of any such report.

Credit:http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/2/14/14609850/gop-investigators-wont-investigate-michael-flynn