Wednesday on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the House Intelligence Committee chairman, expressed his dismay over the pardon granted to former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn by President Donald Trump.
Schiff called the act a demonstration of the American system being exploited by hostile foreign powers.
“Ali, as you pointed out when Michael Flynn lied to the vice president, the vice president then went on national television and misled the American people,” he said. “The Russians knew Michael Flynn had lied because he had talked directly with their ambassador. That made him vulnerable to compromise. He could be blackmailed. This was indeed the concern that Sally Yates raised in bringing this to the attention of the administration that he was now subject to compromise.”
“By giving him a pardon now, imagine the signal that sends to our Russian adversary, that essentially, you know, the president can make Russia’s problems go away by dismissing a case against someone who had lied on their behalf, who had concealed these illicit contacts,” Schiff continued. “It just makes a mockery out of our system, and I think demonstrates that it can be exploited by hostile foreign powers.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor