Trump On Flynn Plea Deal: "There's Been No Collusion So We're Very Happy"

Even as all of Washington, D.C. was agog at the news of former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleading guilty to lying to the FBI and that he will be "fully cooperating" with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation, the White House has tried to spin these events into "no news."

This morning, speaking to reporters, Donald Trump made a point of repeating, “What has been shown is no collusion,” he said. “No collusion. There’s been absolutely no collusion so we’re very happy.”

But behind the scenes, Trump is not so confident. According to several sources close to Trump, he has been concerned for some time that "Flynn turned on me."

From The Daily Beast:

For weeks, Trump has vented privately to advisers and confidants about his anxiety over signs that Flynn had flipped. He noted the possibility that Flynn had “turned on me,” three sources close to the president independently recall him saying. These sources had relayed details of these conversations to The Daily Beast over the course of the past week.

Trump’s fears came into sharp focus this past month, as several media outlets began to report that Flynn appeared to be cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

The president—an avid and voracious consumer of Twitter and cable news—began privately fuming, according to an administration official and two outside allies of Trump. Two of the three sources noted that it sounded at times as if Trump felt personally hurt by the prospect that someone whom he admired professionally and liked personally had potentially turned.

Trump later tweeted that Flynn's "actions during the transition were lawful."

Because, folks always lie about "lawful" actions, right?

Watch the Donald address reporters below.

President Trump says he is not concerned about what Michael Flynn might tell the special counsel, saying "there has been absolutely no collusion" https://t.co/pSEiZSEzoR

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 2, 2017

I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 2, 2017

So the official story is that everyone in TrumpWorld was lying about Russia connections—including to the FBI!—even though there was “nothing to hide.” Got it. https://t.co/txxzgVDQpY

— Max Boot (@MaxBoot) December 2, 2017