Trump and Pence were warned about Michael Flynn's lobbying, but now claim they never knew

Mark Sumner

Daily Kos Staff

Friday March 10, 2017 · 6:56 AM PST

2017/03/10 · 06:56

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 10: Vice President Mike Pence (L) shakes hands with National Security Adviser Michael Flynn before U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hold a joint press conference at the White House on February 10, 2017 in Washington, DC. The two answered questions from American and Japanese press. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) — I don't believe we've met.

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It’s not immigrants who need “extreme vetting,” it’s members of the Trump regime. Not only do they have numerous ties to Russian oligarchs, mob figures, and shady investment schemes (and that’s just Trump) apparently no one even bothers to check on what they did for a living. On Thursday, Donald Trump claimed he didn’t know that Michael Flynn had formerly worked as an agent of Turkey.

President Donald Trump was not aware that his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, had worked to further the interests of the government of Turkey before appointing him, the White House said Thursday.

That Flynn had worked for multiple interests in Turkey was common knowledge, but common knowledge, like common sense, doesn’t matter with the chaos corps. And now Mike Pence is shocked—shocked—to find out what pretty much anyone who bothered to read an article about Flynn already knew.

In an interview with Fox on Thursday night, Vice President Mike Pence said he was not aware, either, and that he only heard about it as reports surfaced on Thursday that Flynn had registered as a foreign agent with the Justice Department earlier this week.

Except … no. Pence was warned about Flynn in November.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent Pence a letter on November 18 requesting more information about the potential conflicts of interest posed by Flynn's lobbying work.

Cumming’s letter came on top of several articles pointing up Flynn’s Turkish lobbying, and that his lobbying firm was benefiting from Flynn’s association with Trump.

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a vice chair of the Trump transition who is in the running for a top national security post in the new administration, runs a consulting firm that is lobbying for Turkish interests, an associate told POLITICO. Asked if Flynn's firm was hired because of the general's closeness to Trump, the associate, Robert Kelley, said, "I hope so."

Representative Cummings could not have been more explicit in his statements.

"Recent news reports have revealed that Lt. Gen. Flynn was receiving classified briefings during the presidential campaign while his consulting firm, Flynn Intel Group, Inc., was being paid to lobby the U.S. Government on behalf of a foreign government’s interests," Cummings wrote.

And yet, both Trump and Pence are now claiming they were “unaware” of Flynn’s role is as a registered foreign agent. That’s what happens when you don’t listen to Democrats and only read the fake news being generated by the office next door.

Spicer on FlynnÃ¢ÂÂs (newly revealed) role as registered foreign agent: "This is what he did for a living."
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) March 9, 2017

Yes, Sean. Shouldn’t you have known that?

Trump and Pence were warned about Michael Flynn's lobbying, but now claim they never knew

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