Ivanka Trump played a significant role in how Michael Flynn was assigned the administration’s national security adviser. He resigned in February after he was accused of misleading Vice President Mike Pence over meetings with Russia. On Friday, he pleaded guilty for lying to the FBI about a conversation he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak last December.
The first daughter has downplayed her role as President Donald Trump’s special assistant, but she reportedly had a lot to with Flynn entering her father’s inner circle at the White House. Mercury News highlights an article in The New Yorker which delivers an account of Ivanka Trump’s involvement in the transition team after her father was elected president last year. It turns out she was a bigger part of the transition than previously revealed.
Despite Ivanka’s protestations that she doesn’t like to get involved in politics, she was supposedly instrumental in getting Flynn the job while she acted in the transition team’s executive counsel. One meeting in particular that was chaired by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie points to Ivanka’s influence in pushing for Flynn. The meeting was held three days after Donald Trump was elected president in November 2016. Ivanka announced that she’d invited Michael Flynn, a retired Army general and loyal supporter, to attend the gathering.
According to Jane Mayer in The New Yorker , Ivanka Trump heaped praise on Michael Flynn for his “loyalty” to her father. A “participant” at the meeting described what happened and how Christie lost control when Ivanka took over.
“Praising Flynn’s ‘amazing loyalty to my father,’ (Ivanka) turned to Flynn and asked, ‘General, what job do you want?’” a participant at the meeting said. “It was like Princess Ivanka had laid the sword on Flynn’s shoulders and said, ‘Rise and go forth.’”
A source close to Ivanka Trump didn’t deny the claim but thought it exaggerated her role because she was only showing appreciation for Michael Flynn’s support.
Ivanka Trump was instrumental in Michael Flynn becoming national security advisor, report says https://t.co/iFkNSkbRgK pic.twitter.com/fLuUFmx6ON
— Mercury News (@mercnews) December 2, 2017
The report went on to add that Flynn expressed interest in becoming secretary of state or secretary of defense but settled for national security adviser. It’s worth noting that Christie was pushed out of Trump’s transition team and that may have opened the door to Flynn getting the role.
It’s unknown if Ivanka Trump’s approval of Michael Flynn at the time is what made him national security adviser, but if she praised his loyalty to her father, it certainly didn’t hurt.
