WASHINGTON (AP) Just six days into his presidency, Donald Trump was informed his national security adviser had misled his vice president about contacts with Russia. Trump kept his No. 2 in the dark and waited another two weeks before ousting the aide, Michael Flynn, citing a slow but steady erosion of trust, White House officials said Tuesday. Flynn’s telephone conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. had already drawn attention from law enforcement. He was interviewed by the FBI only days into his own new job. In their retelling of the stunning downfall of the key adviser, officials said Tuesday that Flynn’s error was not that he discussed U.S. economic sanctions with the Russian before the inauguration a potential violation of a rarely enforced law but the fact that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other senior Trump aides about the nature of the conversations. White House officials said they conducted a thorough review of Flynn’s interactions, even reviewing transcripts secretly recorded by U.S. intelligence officials, but found nothing illegal. Pence, who had vouched for Flynn in a televised interview, is said to have been angry and deeply frustrated. “The evolving and eroding level of trust as a result of this situation and a series of other questionable incidents is what led the president to ask General Flynn for his resignation,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday, one day after the president asked Flynn to leave. The explanation of the episode left many questions unanswered, including why Trump…more detail
