Donald Trump is reportedly considering resigning the presidency after reports that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has offered to testify about allegations that the Trump campaign worked with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Flynn offered to be interviewed by the FBI and Congress in exchange for immunity, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. In a statement released later, Flynn’s attorney, Robert Kelner, confirmed that Flynn had reached out to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, which are operating parallel investigations into the alleged Russian interference.
“General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it,” Kelner wrote in the statement.
The offer appears to carry even more weight given Flynn’s previous statements regarding Hillary Clinton’s investigation.
Intel Dem on Flynn: “Innocent people don’t seek immunity” https://t.co/doWvlf3prH pic.twitter.com/tfY3212a0E
— The Hill (@thehill) March 31, 2017
“When you are given immunity that means you’ve probably committed a crime,” Flynn said in September in an interview with NBC .
There have been reports circulating for months that Trump was working closely with Russian intelligence officials, and the allegations were laid out in a dossier compiled by a former British MI6 agent. The report claimed that Russian officials had worked for many years to cultivate Donald Trump as a candidate, compiling embarrassing information to use as blackmail while also offering lucrative financial deals for Trump. The dossier alleged that Trump struck a deal to lessen sanctions on Russia in exchange for help taking down Hillary Clinton.
That help allegedly came in the form of emails from Clinton’s campaign leader and the Democratic National Committee, stolen by Russian hackers and published through WikiLeaks.
Flynn had already been taking down for his connections to Russia. The national security adviser served just three weeks before resigning for reportedly lying to Vice President Mike Pence about contact with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak.
Dem lawmaker on Flynn immunity request: “Where theres smoke, there’s fire” https://t.co/dHVtfhigmo pic.twitter.com/vUvTbnVj1r
— The Hill (@thehill) March 31, 2017
Flynn has other connections to Russia, NBC News noted.
“Flynn was paid $45,000 plus expenses to speak at the 10th anniversary gala of the RT television network in Moscow in December 2015, while he was already an advisor to Trump. The U.S. considers RT, which is state-sponsored, to be a propaganda outlet.”
Now a number of sources have claimed that Donald Trump is considering resignation amid the growing Russia scandal and potentially damaging testimony from Flynn. Within an hour of the news of Flynn’s testimony offer breaking, a former U.S. military officials and “hacktivist” known as The Jester cited sources claiming that Trump was considering all options, including resignation.
#FLASH A previously reliable source says they have 2 further sources stating Trump is “considering his options, including resignation”.
— J?S??R ? ?C?U?L (@th3j35t3r) March 31, 2017
While he has not put his real name to his work, The Jester reportedly has close contacts throughout the intelligence community and has a strong track record with his predictions.
While the rumors of Donald Trump’s plans to resign are relegated to Twitter for now, the reports seem to offer a new perspective to a strange and somewhat telling statement made this week by Senator Diane Feinstein, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Speaking to a group of activists asking why she and Democrats were not doing more to press on the Russia investigation and force Trump out of office, Feinstein hinted that she may have inside information that Trump may be planning to resign.
“We have a lot of people looking into this,” she said.
“I think he’s going to get himself out.”
While the rumors that Donald Trump may resign are circulating online, the White House has continued to deny any collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
[Featured Image by Alex Wong/Getty Images]