As you've probably heard, Trump's National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned late last night after it was revealed that he discussed lifting sanctions against Russia with Russian diplomats before Trump was sworn into office, an apparently violation of the Logan Act.
But there's more to the story. The intelligence community and even the Justice Department believed Flynn had been compromised.
Flynn stepped down amid mounting pressure on the Trump administration to account for its false statements about Flynn’s conduct after The Washington Post reported Monday that the Justice Department had warned the White House last month that Flynn had so mischaracterized his communications with the Russian diplomat that he might be vulnerable to blackmail by Moscow.
In his resignation letter, Flynn said he had “inadvertently briefed the Vice President Elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador. I have sincerely apologized to the president and the vice president.”
There's ample reason to believe Flynn actually did not lie to Trump or Pence and that he had their blessing, but I digress.
Flynn was as close if not closer to Trump has anyone, having whispered in his ear since last summer. Flynn even accompanied Trump during his first classified intelligence briefings, which obviously raises many questions at this point. Flynn was also the person Trump apparently turned to in the middle of the night when he needed answers to questions that he could simply Google.
If Flynn can be brought down, any of them can. Flynn was at the top of the Trump trust pyramid, even above the likes of Steve Bannon.
Not surprisingly, Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz still isn't interested in investigating anything even as Flynn sets a new record after serving as the national security adviser for just 24 days. The previous record holder was Richard Allen, Ronald Reagan's first national security adviser, who served for 348 days.