U.S. Department of Justice
Attorney Work Product // May Contain Material Protected Under Fed. R. Crim. P. 6(e)
On February 13, 2017, Pricbus told Flynn he had to resign.[1] Flynn said he wanted to say goodbye to the President, so Priebus brought him to the Oval Office.[2] Priebus recalled that the President hugged Flynn, shook his hand, and said, "We'll give you a good recommendation. You're a good guy. We'll take care of you."[3]
Talking points on the resignation prepared by the White House Counsel's Office and distributed to the White House communications team stated that McGahn had advised the President that Flynn was unlikely to be prosecuted, and the President had determined that the issue with Flynn was one of trust.[4] Spicer told the press the next day that Flynn was forced to resign "not based on a legal issue, but based on a trust issue, [where] a level of trust between the President and General Flynn had eroded to the point where [the President] felt he had to make a change."[5]
- 7. The President Discusses Flynn with FBI Director Comey
On February 14, 2017, the day after Flynn's resignation, the President had lunch at the White House with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.[6] According to Christie, at one point during the lunch the President said, "Now that we fired Flynn, the Russia thing is over."[7] Christie laughed and responded, "No way."[8] He said, "this Russia thing is far from over" and "[w]e'll be here on Valentine's Day 2018 talking about this."[9] The President said, "[w]hat do you mean? Flynn met with the Russians. That was the problem. I fired Flynn. It's over."[10] Christie recalled responding that based on his experience both as a prosecutor and as someone who had been investigated, firing Flynn would not end the investigation.[11] Christie said there was no way to make an investigation shorter, but a lot of ways to make it longer.[12] The President asked Christie what he meant, and Christie told the President not to talk about the investigation even if he was
- ↑ Priebus 1/18/18 302, at 9.
- ↑ Priebus 1/18/18 302, at 9; Flynn 11/17/17 302, at 10.
- ↑ Priebus 1/18/18 302, at 9; Flynn 11/17/17 302, at 10.
- ↑ SCR004_00600 (2/16/17 Email, Burnham to Donaldson).
- ↑ Sean Spicer, White House Daily Briefing, C-SPAN (Feb. 14, 2017). After Flynn pleaded guilty to violating in December 2017, the President tweeted, "I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI." @realDonaldTrump 12/2/17 (12:14 p.m. ET) Tweet. The next day, the President's personal counsel told the press that he had drafted the tweet. Maegan Vazquez et al., Trump's lawyer says he was behind President's tweet about firing Flynn, CNN (Dec. 3, 2017).
- ↑ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 2-3; SCR012b_000022 (President's Daily Diary, 2/14/17).
- ↑ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 3.
- ↑ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 3.
- ↑ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 3. Christie said he thought when the President said "the Russia thing" he was referring to not just the investigations but also press coverage about Russia. Christie thought the more important thing was that there was an investigation. Christie 2/13/19 302, at 4.
- ↑ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 3.
- ↑ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 3.
- ↑ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 3.
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