It seems nothing was going to get President Donald Trump out of his celebratory mood after Senate Republicans passed their tax bill. The commander in chief talked to reporters Saturday and for the first time briefly referred to the news that his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials. When reporters asked whether the president was worried about what Flynn could tell special counsel Robert Mueller, Trump didn’t hesitate: “No, I am not.”
Why is Trump so free of worry? “What has been shown is no collusion, no collusion” he said. “There’s been absolutely no collusion so we’re very happy.”
Part of Trump’s confidence may have come from the fact that ABC News backtracked on what had been by far the most explosive report regarding Flynn’s guilty plea. ABC News’ Brian Ross shook up Washington when he reported that Flynn would testify that Trump had “directed him to make contact with the Russians” during the presidential campaign. That would have been huge news because Trump has repeatedly denied knowledge of any contact between campaign workers and Russian officials. But late on Friday ABC News corrected the record with a key detail that changed everything. Turns out Flynn will say that Trump told him to contact Russian officials during the transition to figure out how the two countries could best work together in Syria to fight ISIS.
