Trump’s First 100 Days with ABC’s RICK KLEIN and SHUSHANNAH WALSHE Day No. 26 THE BIG STORY: The exit of Gen. Michael Flynn from the Trump White House stands as evidence that, for as much as President Trump is defying norms and conventions, there are political laws that still apply to him and his closest aides. Now that Flynn is gone, the Trump team will learn that firings don’t necessarily quiet Washington conflagrations. Flynn’s ouster raises multiple new questions, starting with some big ones: When did the president know his conversation with the Russian ambassador included talk of sanctions? Did Trump ask him to have that conversation? What other negotiations did Flynn have during a period where he was publicly compromised by being on record with a falsehood? Will Republicans join Democrats in demanding a thorough investigation? And – perhaps the biggest: Who else on the Trump team had off-the-books communications with the Russians during the campaign and transition period? This is a story that has tentacles that spread throughout some of the biggest and most suspicious storylines of Trump’s still-brief political career. The Russia story is Trump’s bear to bear. THE SLEEPER STORY: The Facebook account has since been deleted, and the pictures themselves – the president and his top aides smiling at a pleasant dinner with the prime minister of Japan – are innocent enough. But the idea that they were discussing the details of a North Korean missile launch, inside cellphone camera range (if not quite earshot)…more detail
