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Ex-White House Official Revises Statement on Flynn

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“A former top White House official has revised her statement to investigators about a key event in the probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election, after her initial claim was contradicted by the guilty plea of former national security adviser Michael Flynn,” the Washington Post reports.

“K.T. McFarland, who briefly served as Flynn’s deputy, has now said that he may have been referring to sanctions when they spoke in late December 2016 after Flynn’s calls with Russia’s ambassador to the United States. When FBI agents first visited her at her Long Island home in the summer of 2017, McFarland denied ever talking to Flynn about any discussion of sanctions between him and the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, in December 2016 during the presidential transition.”

Emails Contradict McFarland’s Testimony

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Former deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland “told lawmakers that she did not discuss or know anything about interactions between Sergey Kislyak, who had been Moscow’s ambassador to the United States,” and Michael Flynn, the New York Times reports.

“But emails… appear to undermine those statements. In a Dec. 29 message about newly imposed Obama administration sanctions against Russia for its election interference, Ms. McFarland, then serving on Mr. Trump’s transition team, told another transition official that Mr. Flynn would be talking to the Russian ambassador that evening.”

McFarland Ousted from National Security Council

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“K.T. McFarland has been asked to step down as deputy National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump after less than three months and will become U.S. ambassador to Singapore,” Bloomberg reports.

“The departure of the 65-year-old former Fox News commentator comes as Trump’s second National Security Advisor, Lt General H.R. McMaster, puts his own stamp on the National Security Council after taking over in February following the firing of Michael Flynn.”

Deputy National Security Aide Raises Questions

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Politico: “K.T. McFarland’s theatrical performance might have been lighthearted, but its breezy and simplistic tone underscores why national security experts in both parties worry she is unqualified for what national security veterans say is among the hardest—and most important—jobs at the White House. McFarland, whose initials stand for Kathleen Troia, has not worked in government since the mid 1980s. For the past several years, her main occupation has been as a national security analyst for Fox News.”

“Her appointment, announced in late November, has fueled concerns that Trump is not taking seriously enough the need for a top-flight foreign policy team at a moment of high global instability.”

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Wonk Wire, Political Job Hunt and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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