Washington: The then President Barack Obama warned his soon to be successor Donald Trump against hiring Michael Flynn as his national security adviser during an Oval Office meeting after the 2016 election, a media report claimed on Monday, which was immediately pushed back by the White House.
"Obama passed along a general caution that he believed Flynn was not suitable for such a high level post," the NBC News said, quoting an unnamed official.
This happened less than 48 hours after the November 8 general elections when Obama met Trump in his Oval Office. According to a senior White House official, Obama made Trump aware that he was "not a fan of Flynn."
During the meeting, Obama asked Trump why "would he be given this was a person who had been critical in a public way (tv, media appearances and campaigning with candidate Trump of Obama, the official said.
The White House official said that it was worth noting that Flynn previously served in the Obama administration.
Another senior White House official said if Obama and his team were so concerned with Flynn why did not he take steps to revoke his security clearance. The channel said that its report that Obama warned Trump on hiring Flynn was based on interviews with three former Obama administration officials.
Flynn, one of the early backers of Trump during his presidential run, remained in the top position of National Security Advisor for just three weeks, making him one of the shortest-serving senior presidential advisers in modern American history.
Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, in his resignation letter apologised to Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for briefing them with incomplete information on his talks with the Russian Ambassador before the swearing in.
Comments
0 comment