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Trump Tries to Change the Subject on Flynn

'The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington?' president tweets

President Donald Trump had little to say about National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s resignation, but plenty to say about the leaks that exposed him. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
President Donald Trump had little to say about National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s resignation, but plenty to say about the leaks that exposed him. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Normally a prolific morning tweeter, President Donald Trump was notably silent until mid-morning after the resignation of his national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Trump didn’t mention his former adviser by name, but instead commented on the situation surrounding Flynn’s departure and the leaks about the White House.

“The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington?” Trump tweeted Tuesday.

Republicans on Capitol Hill were silent or ambivalent about Flynn on whether they thought his communication with Russia’s ambassador over sanctions needed to be investigated, but several echoed the president and called for an investigation into the leaks concerning him and other sensitive issues around Trump’s administration.

House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., told reporters Tuesday that he wants an investigation into the leaks. As news was breaking about Trump “re-evaluating” Flynn’s status Monday night, Nunes told Fox News that he wanted the FBI to “do an assessment of this to tell us what’s going on here because we cannot continue to have these leaks as a government.”

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he learned of the Flynn issue through media reports.

“That’s concerning because that means there’s also leaks from the intelligence community which is equally concerning. On policy issues, [members of the administration] have interacted with us.”

Republican Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, threw a little shade on the administration, telling reporters with a chuckle, “It would appear to me [by] reading y’all’s daily publications that they have a leak problem.”

Trump’s silence on Flynn was notable in light of his prolific tweeting, especially early in the morning, responding to news reports he had seen or watched on morning news shows, sometimes posting several times on one subject. On Sunday, he fired off seven tweets before noon on topics ranging from refugee statistics to Mark Cuban

The president recently caused a stir after he tweeted that his daughter Ivanka Trump being “treated so unfairly” by the department store Nordstrom’s after it decided to stop selling her fashion line.

The sent time on the tweet seemed to line up with the scheduled time of an intelligence briefing the president was to attend that day. White House press secretary said Trump did not send the tweet during the briefing. 

The official @POTUS account has been silent since Saturday, when it tweeted out a video link to Trump’s joint statement with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Nov. 25, 2016, was the last time Trump went a day without tweeting at least once from @realDonaldTrump. 

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