Senators from both parties have kind words for President Donald Trump and former national security adviser Gen. Mike Flynn, who resigned Monday night over pre-inauguration communications with Russia.
"The issue, as I understand it, is that wasn't communicated to the vice president and others," Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said of the phone call Flynn made with the Russian ambassador before becoming National Security Advisor, during an interview on Fox News. "So, look, it's an internal decision. They made and apparently Gen. Flynn offered his resignation. My interactions with the guy were positive, he was professional, he was courteous. He's got a very distinguished military career and I wish him well."
Portman's Democratic colleague Chris Coons of Delaware praised Trump for not delaying.
"I think it's good the president moved quickly to replace someone who it became clear had misled the vice president and embarrassed the administration," he said.
"There's important unanswered questions about Gen. Flynn's ties to Russia, his actions during the campaign and as national security adviser, but it's my hope the administration will quickly choose a competent national security adviser, particularly given a number of troubling recent developments around the world. We need a strong national security team in place."
Not all Democrats were so positive about Flynn's resignation. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told The New York Times that "nothing" about Flynn's stepping down will affect the committee's investigation into the retired general "or any other campaign official who may have had inappropriate and improper contacts with Russian officials prior to the election."
"It is clear that our task is more urgent than ever," he added.
"We in Congress need to know who authorized his actions, permitted them and continued to let him have access to our most sensitive national security information despite knowing these risks," read a joint statement, according to the Times, from the ranking Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Reps. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan and Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland.
"We need to know who else within the White House is a current and ongoing risk to our national security."
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