Wall Street Journal columnist James Freeman said the real story of the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is not what he talked to his Russian counterparts about, but why the government was spying on him.



"I really hope that people start focusing on the bigger issue, which is what was he doing or why was he targeted," the writer said.



"Seventy years ago, President Truman signed the National Security Act preventing intelligence agencies from spying on Americans. This conversation was, happened while Mike Flynn was a private citizen, before he took office, so I don't know why this isn't the story. Why was the government listening to his conversations?" Freeman asked.



"We want to get to that, but first of all, Donald Trump said he fired him because he gave incomplete information to the vice president. If that's the case, can -- isn't, wasn't he justified in firing him in that instance?" moderator Paul Gigot asked.



"Well, there is a question there," Freeman responded. "The topic was they were discussing sanctions, and when the Russian official brought it up, did Mike Flynn discuss it, or did he just vaguely say that they would have conversations about lots of things in the future? But I really think it's important that there is not a constitutional or a legal requirement for Mike Flynn to always tell the truth to Mike Pence. I really hope that people start focusing on the bigger issue, which is what was he doing or why was he targeted."



Freeman wanted to know why Flynn was targeted and what this says about the power of the U.S. intelligence community and what is being referred to as the "deep state." Freeman's Journal colleagues did not agree with his take and the journalists argued the merits of U.S. spying on this weekend's edition of The Wall Street Journal Editorial Report on the FOX News Channel.



Freeman said everyone seems to be shrugging their shoulders at this part of the story when people "freaked out" at U.S. intel agencies like the NSA for using 'metadata' to spy on U.S. citizens.



"Remember how over the last ten years how much people have freaked out over metadata, the collections not targeting any individual, no content of the calls, simply the times and circumstances of calls," he said. "And here we are, everyone seems to be shrugging their shoulders that this citizen was spied on."