A.B. Stoddard says that if President Donald Trump does not fire National Security Advisor Michael Flynn for allegedly lying to Vice President Mike Pence about a phone call with the Russian ambassador, he wields more executive branch influence than Pence.

As Jennifer Griffin reported, Flynn apologized to Pence for claiming incorrectly that sanctions were not discussed in a pre-inauguration phone call with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak after Pence said publicly that Flynn assured him so.

"There's a good bet that President Trump will keep Gen. Flynn on [the job]," Stoddard said on "Shepard Smith Reporting" today.

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Stoddard said that relieving Flynn at this point will result in "bad optics" for the administration, which Trump tends to avoid at all costs.

She said Trump's problem in the scenario isn't the fact a Russian envoy is involved, but rather that one of his most trusted advisors appears to have lied to the vice president of the United States.

"If he doesn't get fried for this, he is more influential than the vice president," Stoddard said.

To date, Trump has been muted on Twitter and in press conferences regarding Flynn's situation or his status in the administration.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.

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