Flynn faces tough time over Russian ‘link’

Washington: President Donald Trump’s national security adviser (NSA), Michael Flynn, is struggling to get past a controversy over his contacts with Russian officials before Mr Trump took office, conversations that officials said have raised concerns within the White House.

Top White House officials have been reviewing over the weekend Mr Flynn’s contacts with the Russians and if he discussed the possibility of lifting US sanctions on Russia once Mr Trump took office, which could potentially be in violation of a law banning private citizens from engaging in foreign policy.

Mr Flynn is a retired US General and former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). An early supporter of Mr Trump, he has been a leading advocate to improve US relations with Russia.

Mr Flynn had initially denied discussing sanctions with the Russians in the weeks before Mr Trump took office January 20 and vice-president Mike Pence went before television cameras to repeat the denial and defend Mr Flynn.

When a Washington Post report emerged last week quoting officials saying the subject of sanctions had in fact come up, Mr Flynn left open the possibility that he had discussed the sanctions but could not remember with 100 per cent certainty, an administration official said.

A second administration official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, stressed that Mr Pence made his comments based on a conversation with Mr Flynn. Mr Pence is said to be troubled by the possibility of being misled.

Mr Flynn has apologised to Mr Pence and others over the incident, the first official said.

A third official said the uproar prompted White House chief of staff Reince Priebus to review the matter with other top officials as Mr Trump played host to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the weekend in Florida.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

There was no indication from transcripts of Mr Flynn’s conversations that he had promised to lift the sanctions but rather he made more general comments about hoping for better US-Russian relations with Mr Trump, the third official said.

Mr Trump has yet to weigh in on the subject, promising to reporters on Friday that he would look into it.