Despite the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia was to blame for the wave of election-year cyberattacks, President Donald Trump was for months reluctant to concede the point. | Getty Ex-Navy SEAL congressman: Trump and intel community need to get on the same page 'very quickly'

A GOP congressman said Monday morning that President Donald Trump and the intelligence community that he leads “need to get on the same page very quickly” amid simmering concerns about national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Rep. Scott Taylor’s comments to CNN’s “New Day” come as Flynn is under fire for reportedly discussing a reprieve from American sanctions with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. before Trump was sworn into office. Asked by The Washington Post if he had had such a discussion, Flynn repeatedly said no but then backed away from that denial via a spokesman, who said Flynn did not recall discussing sanctions but could not be sure that the topic was not raised.


Taylor (R-Va.), a former Navy SEAL, said he did not have any information on Flynn’s situation beyond what was being reported in the media and that the degree to which he is alleged to have acted inappropriately would depend greatly on what specifically he said.

The sanctions reportedly discussed by Flynn were imposed last December by former President Barack Obama, punishment for Russia’s interference into the U.S. presidential election last year. Despite the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia was to blame for the wave of election-year cyberattacks, Trump was for months reluctant to concede the point. The president was even more unwilling to accept the intelligence community’s assessment that the Kremlin had launched those attacks with the specific goal of aiding Trump’s candidacy.

Following the publication of a dossier of unverified intelligence containing compromising and salacious details about the president, Trump compared the intelligence community to Nazi Germany. The rocky relationship Trump had as a candidate and president-elect with the nation’s intelligence apparatus appears to have carried over into his presidency, Taylor said.

“There's some rift between some folks in the intelligence community, some of the political appointees that are from the last administration, of course, and then perhaps people that agree with them that are in there,” the Virginia lawmaker said. “It's important for the president to have confidence in the top leadership of the intelligence community as well, too. It's important for our nation. It’s important for the national security of this country. So I think they need to get on the same page very quickly if they're not on the same page now.”