The anchor of Fox News’ “Special Report” said that following Michael Flynn’s resignation as national security adviser, Democrats “smell blood in the water” and now there is concern on Capitol Hill that the Deep State intel community is trying to “take out Trump,” or at least “discredit” him.
Bret Baier made the comments Tuesday in reaction to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s press briefing on the matter.
Spicer repeatedly stated that President Trump asked Flynn for his resignation due to “trust” issues and that there was nothing illegal about Flynn speaking with the Russian ambassador before the inauguration.
He said the problem came down to Flynn misleading the White House about what was discussed and specifically maintaining that he did not discuss sanctions.
Baier said Democrats now “smell blood in the water” and will continue to press the issue on Russia and the Trump administration.
“Politically, this is not a good start to this week at all for the Trump administration,” said Baier.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and other top Democrats blasted Republicans for not investigating Flynn’s alleged Russian ties.
Cummings said at a press conference Tuesday, “This is a town of House Republicans conducting no oversight of President Trump. Zero. That is what it sounds like when they abdicate their duty under the Constitution.” Democrats now want an investigation into President Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia.
Some Republican senators, including John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Roy Blunt, are calling for a full investigation into the Flynn affair, Baier said.
He added that the Trump administration and some Republicans “have a point” when they decry the “leaks” that led to Flynn’s ouster.
“There are a number of different people on Capitol Hill and in the administration who are concerned that there is, in fact, this intelligence industrial complex that is trying to take out Donald Trump or somehow discredit him,” said Baier.
https://youtu.be/TgSTTniAcpg
Following Flynn’s resignation, the New York Times reported that deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland was headed out the door, too, but McFarland told The Hill Tuesday that she will remain in her current post at the request of President Trump.
Rep. Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, is one Republican who is gravely concerned. Nunes told Bloomberg’s Eli Lake Monday that he sees the Flynn leaks as part of a pattern.
“There does appear to be a well-orchestrated effort to attack Flynn and others in the administration,” he said. “From the leaking of phone calls between the president and foreign leaders to what appears to be high-level FISA Court information, to the leaking of American citizens being denied security clearances, it looks like a pattern.”
Nunes said he was going to bring this up with the FBI, and ask the agency to investigate the leak and find out whether Flynn himself is a target of a law enforcement investigation. The Washington Post reported last month that Flynn was not the target of an FBI probe.
Nunes told Lake that Trump’s decision to cut Flynn loose “will not end well.”
“First it’s Flynn, next it will be Kellyanne Conway, then it will be Steve Bannon, then it will be Reince Priebus. Put another way, Flynn is only the appetizer. Trump is the entree,” he said.
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