He didn’t stay quiet for long.
The ever-controversial 45th President of the United States has taken to Twitter to address the General Michael Flynn controversy, insisting that there was “nothing to hide.”
The disgraced former National Security Advisor was fired after just a month in the White House for misleading Vice President Mike Pence over his contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Said once to have been the President’s ‘favourite general’, Flynn appeared in court in Friday where he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into alleged dealings between Trump and Russia.
Trump, who had been unusually quiet amid reports that he had been advised by staffers to stay off Twitter as details of Flynn’s plea deal came to light, moved to distance himself from any controversy, somehow slamming and defending the general in the same missive:
I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 2, 2017
Speaking to reporters prior to the tweet, Trump insisted that there was “no collusion” with Russia, despite Flynn’s sensational guilty plea.
Trump has been typically busy and outspoken on Twitter lately, hitting out at Theresa May after the UK Prime Minister criticised Trump’s use of the service to highlight anti-Muslim sentiment put forward by the deputy leader of far-right group Britain First.
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