Flynn’s alleged communications with Russian ambassador may have violated Logan Act but outlets train lens on ‘sleeper cells’ of Obama-era officials

In the wake of national security adviser Michael Flynn’s surprise resignation, conservative media outlets have largely focused their attention on the White House leaks that set the stage for Flynn’s downfall.



Breitbart media decried the possibility of “sleeper cells” in the White House left over from the Obama administration, while Fox News noted that Donald Trump and the GOP are on the hunt for “moles”.

That was a reference to Trump’s attempt to move the focus away from Flynn on Tuesday morning:

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington? Will these leaks be happening as I deal on N.Korea etc?

Flynn announced his resignation on Monday night as pressure mounted regarding improper communications the ex-general allegedly had with Russian diplomats before Trump’s inauguration. The information was apparently leaked to the press by disgruntled and alarmed officials in the US intelligence community. Flynn’s conversations may have violated the Logan Act, a law intended to prevent private citizens from conducting US diplomacy, and would certainly be against normal diplomatic protocols.

But more than potential improprieties by Flynn, Breitbart’s Joel Pollak argued, the issue at hand was “the more serious question is whether our nation’s intelligence services were involved in what amounts to political espionage against the newly-elected government”. Pollack also wondered aloud if the sanctions that Flynn allegedly discussed with Russian officials were, in fact, intentionally introduced by Obama “to expose which strings Russia might try to pull to relieve them”, Pollak wrote. “Flynn, with a prior relationship with the Russian government, may have been a natural, innocuous point of contact.”

National Review’s David French pivoted off the Flynn scandal to accuse the apparent sea of confidential leakers of “helping build and sustain an atmosphere of national anxiety and even (in some quarters) outright hysteria”, and implored them to either speak on the record or to quiet down.

The Washington Times also led on Tuesday morning with White House loyalty concerns, noting the president’s tweet which read: “The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington? Will these leaks be happening as I deal on N.Korea etc?”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Washington Times’ headline trumpets the president’s line about the ‘real story’ of Michael Flynn’s resignation, despite concerns of a violation of the Logan Act. Photograph: Washington Times

WikiLeaks, which during last year’s election published Democratic emails that US intelligence believes had been hacked by Russia, also took a contrarian view compared to much of the US media, blaming the resignation on “US spies, Democrats, press”.

Trump’s concerns about security leaks come at an awkward time, after numerous reports that the president was conducting sensitive national security discussions, including classified information, in plain view and earshot of members at his private Mar-a-Lago golf club over the weekend.

The early weeks of Trump’s presidency have been unusually vulnerable to White House information leaks, which have exposed several top officials to scrutiny and have also painted an unflattering portrayal of Trump’s temperament and behavior as president.