Late Monday night, General Michael Flynn resigned his post as National Security Advisor after reports confirmed that he had been in touch with Russian officials during the Donald Trump administration"s transition to the Oval Office.
He told these officials that President Trump would likely lift the sanctions imposed on Russia by Barack Obama…
… and then he lied to Vice President Mike Pence (among others) about these discussions.
As part of The Washington Post story that broke this troubling news, we learned that the Justice Department warned President Trump"s administration last month that Flynn misled Pence about his conversation with the Russian ambassador to the United States.
The Justice Department therefore concluded, in its briefing of President Trump, that Flynn could be susceptible to blackmail by Russia.
And yet Trump did not fire Flynn.
The General resigned mere hours after advisor Kellyanne Conway told reporters that he had the "full confidence" of the President.
Yes, the same President who was aware that Flynn had spoken to Russia and presumably lied about this contact to the Vice President a few weeks ago.
So… either Flynn never lied and the administration was aware all along of Flynn"s traitorous actions.
Or Flynn did lie, did talk to Russia illegally and Trump knew all about it – and didn"t care.
There are no other alternatives here.
Conway suggested that Flynn"s resignation was his own decision even though the administration knew a month ago that he misled them.
"You’re saying that"s the straw that broke the camel’s back, but the White House knew about that last month when the Justice Department warned the White House that [Flynn] had not been completely honest," Lauer said, adding:
"Kellyanne, that makes no sense!
"Last month the Justice Department warned the White House that General Flynn had misled them! And that as a result he was vulnerable to blackmail and at that moment he still had the complete trust of the president?"
It"s an amazing exchange, and a very awkward exchange.
Watch every second of it below:
