Liberal Forum

Sean Spicer Blamed Obama For Failing To Vet Trump's Ex-National Security Adviser And People Are Confused

At the White House press briefing on Thursday, spokesman Sean Spicer was asked if the administration had properly vetted Flynn before naming him as national security adviser.

Instead, Spicer suggested it was the Obama administration that had dropped the ball on Flynn.

His argument seemed to be that since the Obama administration last issued Flynn a security clearance in 2016, the Trump administration wasn't responsible for vetting him further than that.

(Flynn served in the Obama administration as the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012-2014 when he was eventually fired. He then worked as a foreign agent for Turkey during the 2016 campaign.)

"My only point is that when General Flynn came into the White House he had an active security clearance that was issued during the Obama administration, with all of the information that is being discussed that occurred in 2015," Spicer said, referring to the payment from Russia.

"General Flynn came in with just the Obama administration vetting?

Is that right?" CNN's Jim Acosta asked.

"That's the impression you're giving."

"It is," replied Spicer.

"Why would you rerun a background check on someone who was the head of the Department of Defense Intelligence Agency that had and did maintain a high level security clearance?" Spicer said.