White House took no steps to limit the former national security adviser’s access to classified information after being told of potential compromise by Russia

The White House took no steps to limit former national security adviser Mike Flynn’s access to classified information after being informed that Flynn was potentially compromised by Russia, Sean Spicer said on Tuesday.

The White House press secretary insisted that Flynn – who was fired in February for misleading vice-president Mike Pence about his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak – was only sacked for that reason and that no actions were taken to limit Flynn’s access to classified information before that. He also pushed back on the congressional testimony of former acting attorney general Sally Yates, who told the Senate judiciary sub-committee on Monday that she had warned the White House about Flynn in two separate face-to-face meetings in late January.

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Spicer simply described this as a “heads up” and attempted to undermine Yates’s credibility by asserting that she was “a strong supporter of [Hillary] Clinton”. When asked to back up that statement about the career justice department official, Spicer cited “widespread rumors”.

He also noted that Trump’s long and outspoken defense of Flynn was because the president didn’t want to “smear a good man”.

Despite his resignation in February, Flynn’s brief stint as national security adviser has caused ongoing controversy for the White House. Flynn is currently facing investigation from the Pentagon for not disclosing paid speeches in Russia, as well as lobbying work on behalf of the Turkish government in 2016 for which Flynn only registered as a foreign agent in March 2017. It was also reported Monday that outgoing president Barack Obama explicitly warned Trump against hiring Flynn in their first Oval Office meeting after the 2016 presidential election.