CIA freezes out top Flynn aide
A top deputy to national security adviser Michael Flynn was rejected for a critical security clearance, effectively ending his tenure on the National Security Council and escalating tensions between Flynn and the intelligence community.
The move came as Flynn’s already tense relationships with others in the Trump administration and the intelligence community were growing more fraught after reports that Flynn had breached diplomatic protocols in his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States.
On Friday, one of Flynn’s closest deputies on the NSC, senior director for Africa Robin Townley, was informed that the Central Intelligence Agency had rejected his request for an elite security clearance required for service on the NSC, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation.
That forced Townley, a former Marine intelligence officer who had long maintained a top secret-level security clearance, out of his NSC post, explained the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.
One of the sources said the rejection was approved by Mike Pompeo, President Donald Trump’s CIA director, and that it infuriated Flynn and his allies.
Both sources said the CIA did not offer much explanation for why Townley’s request for so-called “Sensitive Compartmented Information” clearance was rejected. But the sources said that Flynn and his allies believe it was motivated by Townley’s skepticism of the intelligence community’s techniques — sentiments shared by Flynn.
“They believe this is a hit job from inside the CIA on Flynn and the people close to him,” said one source, who argued that some in the intelligence community feel threatened by Flynn and his allies. “Townley believes that the CIA doesn’t run the world,” the source said.
Spokespeople for the NSC and the CIA declined to comment. Townley and the White House press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, dismissed as “baloney” any suggestion that the clearance was denied because the intelligence community was trying to brush back Flynn.
Trump and Flynn “see treachery everywhere they go,” Schiff said, adding “if a security clearance is denied, it’s for a reason.” Intelligence agencies tend to be careful in rejecting security clearances because “they know they’re going to have to justify it,” Schiff concluded.
One person close to Trump said that, within the White House, Flynn is regarded by some as waging “a jihad against the intelligence community.” This person said Flynn is blamed by some people around Trump for trying to turn the new president against the intelligence community during the campaign and transition period, when Trump was openly skeptical about U.S. intelligence findings that Russia meddled in the election to try to help his campaign and damage that of his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
Flynn’s own ties to Russia, a leading U.S. geopolitical foe, also have come under scrutiny.
Trump’s critics cited Flynn’s paid speech in Russia and dinner with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2015 as evidence of ties between the Kremlin and Trump’s inner circle.
And the FBI has been looking into Flynn’s December communications with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak.
Flynn had maintained that those communications did not include discussion of U.S. sanctions levied against Russia for hacking into Democratic electronic communications during the 2016 presidential race.
But The Washington Post on Thursday reported that sanctions were in fact discussed, citing nine top current and former officials at multiple agencies.
Democrats on Friday seized on the report, calling for Flynn to be suspended and pleading with Republicans to investigate him. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, said he had “grave questions” about Flynn’s honesty — and whether other White House officials were aware of his communications with Kislyak.
Inside the Trump administration, the ranks of Flynn’s critics seem to be growing — and becoming emboldened.
A White House official said there had been concerns about Flynn’s calls to the Russian ambassador, which weren’t known by all of Trump’s top advisers and aides. The official said Flynn is not particularly close to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson or Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Someone close to Trump said “a lot of people are gunning for Flynn, but I think the president likes him.”
“The president thinks he’s loyal and has expertise,” this person said. “Among others, there’s this perception he is wild, outside the box, not suited for the office.”
A senior Trump official played down the idea that Flynn may be in danger, saying he remained in contact with top Trump officials and Cabinet secretaries.
Trump, in a Friday afternoon gaggle aboard Air Force One, said he was unaware of the report that Flynn had discussed the sanctions with the Russian ambassador but said he would “look into that.”