Mario Tama/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — President Trump’s embattled national security adviser Michael Flynn, who faced questions about a call to the Russian ambassador prior to the inauguration, has resigned, according to a senior White House official.
The news comes after he called Vice President Mike Pence Friday to apologize for misleading him about a conversation with the Russian ambassador to the United States, according to a senior White House official.
Further details about the call between Flynn and Pence were not immediately available.
White House aide Kellyanne Conway defended Flynn in an appearance on MSNBC Monday, saying that he “enjoy[s] the full confidence of the president.” Conway’s remarks were the first public declaration of support for Flynn this week as several prominent Democrats called for him to be suspended or fired.
President Trump himself would not answer questions Monday about his support for Flynn, but a statement from White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said “the president is evaluating the situation.”
“He’s speaking to… Vice President Pence relative to the conversation the Vice President had with General Flynn and also speaking to various other people about what he considers the single most important subject there is – our national security,” continued the statement.
Ahead of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Flynn spoke with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia stemming from the country’s suspected interference in the presidential election, ABC News has confirmed.
Flynn has denied that he spoke about the sanctions during his dialogue with the ambassador, but a senior administration official appeared to back off that denial late last week, saying Flynn doesn’t recall discussing the sanctions but “isn’t completely certain.”
In January, Pence — relying on information gleaned directly from Flynn, according to a senior administration official — said during an interview with CBS: “They did not discuss anything having to do with the United States’ decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, the top member of the party on the House Intelligence Committee, released a statement Friday saying that the allegations raise “serious questions of legality and fitness for office,” and that if they are proven true, that Flynn “should no longer serve in this administration or any other.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said Flynn should be “fired immediately” in a statement Monday.
“We have a national security adviser who cannot be trusted not to put Putin before America,” said Pelosi.
U.S. authorities continue to investigate communications between Flynn and Russian officials, but have yet to find any clear evidence of wrongdoing.
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