Trump makes first comments about Flynn’s dismissal; he blames media, leakers

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the media and the sources of leaks in complaining that his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, suffered “unfair” treatment when he was dismissed this week.

“It’s very unfair what happened to Gen. Flynn and the documents and papers that were illegally leaked,” Trump said at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, making his first public comments since accepting Flynn’s resignation late Monday.

But Trump said nothing about Flynn’s potentially illegal conduct in discussing U.S. sanctions with a Russian diplomat prior to Trump’s inauguration.

More glaringly, Trump did not address his own role in Flynn’s ouster. After announcing Flynn’s resignation Monday night and distributing his resignation letter, the White House said Tuesday that Trump had, in recent weeks, lost trust in Flynn and was forced to let him go.

“It’s really a sad thing that he was treated so badly,” Trump said.

Trump alternately claimed the media was trafficking in “fake news” and that intelligence and law enforcement officials were leaking factual information to them.

“It’s a criminal act and it’s been going on for a long time,” Trump said, acknowledging other presidents’ complaints about leaks to reporters but adding that he felt especially harshly targeted.

“People are trying to cover up for a terrible loss that the Democrats had under Hillary Clinton,” Trump said, without explaining who he was accusing.

The comments echoed a morning series of tweets from the president, but overlooked what the White House had claimed was the driving force behind Flynn’s resignation: his mischaracterizations of the substance of his conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the United States in late December.