简体中文
The Washington Postclaims that Trump’s national security adviser, General Michael Flynn, did discuss sanctions with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the month before the inauguration – despite explicit denials by Flynn and vice-president Mike Pence.
It reports:
On Thursday, Flynn, through his spokesman, backed away from the denial. The spokesman said Flynn “indicated that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up.”
The Washington Post says it had verified the content of the communications – which it says were by text message, by phone and in person:
Nine current and former officials, who were in senior positions at multiple agencies at the time of the calls, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.
All of those officials said Flynn’s references to the election-related sanctions were explicit. Two of those officials went further, saying that Flynn urged Russia not to overreact to the penalties being imposed by President Barack Obama, making clear that the two sides would be in position to review the matter after Trump was sworn in as president.
“Kislyak was left with the impression that the sanctions would be revisited at a later time,” said a former official.
