This week Jake Tapper and FactCheck.org take a look at President Donald Trump’s misleading statements on the resignation of Michael Flynn and the events leading up to it.
Flynn resigned as Trump’s national security advisor on Feb. 14 after the White House acknowledged that he discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia in late December with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. before Trump took office. At the time, Flynn told Vice President-elect Mike Pence and others that he did not talk about sanctions with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
At a Feb. 15 press conference, Trump claimed Flynn was “treated very, very unfairly” by the “fake media,” when in fact media reports that were accurate. The Washington Post broke the story late on Feb. 9, and the New York Times followed with its story that same night.
Also, on Feb. 10, Trump denied knowing about media reports that Flynn and Kislyak discussed the U.S. sanctions, telling reporters that he will “look at that.” Actually, Trump knew in January that Flynn discussed sanctions with Russia, as the White House later confirmed, but did not ask for Flynn’s resignation until after the media reports.
Tapper’s video, which is based on our story “Trump Spins Flynn Facts,” can found on the CNN Politics webpage. See our previous collaborations here.