The Michael Flynn Saga Continues

National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was known to have made calls to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition. Flynn claimed they didn't discuss anything important; anonymous administration officials have asserted otherwise.

Yesterday, the heat got turned up on Flynn. As NBC's Bradd Jaffy noted on Twitter: "Within the last 30 mins — NYT, WashPost, WSJ, and Politico each dropped pieces that have to be alarming for your future if you're Mike Flynn."

Boom (NYT), boom (WaPo), boom (WSJ), boom (Politico).

Vice President Mike Pence, who publicly defended Flynn and said he had not discussed sanctions with Kislyak, apparently made that brazen claim based on nothing more than a conversation with Flynn. (Which still seems incredible to me.) And now Pence is not happy about it, according to another anonymous administration official: "Flynn is running out of friends, no question. The broad consensus in the White House is that he lied. The vice president feels like he lied. In a position that needs to be no drama, it's nonstop drama. I would be very surprised if he lasts much longer."

It's certainly interesting that administration officials are casting this as "drama," when a more accurate term might be "treason." The Trump administration seems far less concerned about Flynn's relationship to Russia than they do with his making them look bad.

Which is worth noting, especially given the president's own ties to Russia.

If the administration throws Flynn overboard, it must be viewed through this lens. Flynn and his Russia ties are becoming a "dramatic" distraction, but nothing about which Trump and his similarly Russia-tied advisors and cabinet are concerned on behalf of the nation's security.

Fuck only knows where this is going. But I hope if Flynn gets ousted, it's just the beginning--and not "the end" to avoid further scrutiny.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) February 13, 2017

Flynn is not an outlier in this administration; he's merely the most careless. I hope the media gets that—and keeps pushing on all the rest of them.