[FONT="]Blake.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Q Two questions as it relates to President Trump and former President Obama. Back to that November conversation, were there specific reasons given, as it relates to Michael Flynn? And if so, was that based on private information?[/FONT]
[FONT="]MR. SPICER: I don’t know the answer to that. I know that, like I said, he passed along exactly what I mentioned to Kristen at the outset.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Michael.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Q Two clarifications. On the signing statement, broadly, not just the subject of HBCUs, are you saying that the President was not aware of the details of that very long signing statement, and it was just something done at --[/FONT]
[FONT="]
MR. SPICER: No, no, no. That’s not -- I’m sorry. No, the President is obviously aware of what happened. The question was asked is -- it is a process. It has happened for administrations going back generations, I’m sure. I don’t have the precise nature of when signing statements came into being. But this is a normal pro forma piece that goes along with a bill signing to make sure that the executive branch’s intent is as understood.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Q But a lot of the things that were in that signing statement were things that were essentially carryovers from things that Obama had also objected to. But the President and the senior staff here was aware of what those things were and approved those being --
[/FONT]
[FONT="]MR. SPICER: Of course, yes.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Q Okay. Second question, on Flynn and the security clearance. You guy have made, both from the podium here and also the President made a big deal of this question of the Obama people gave him the clearance or re-upped the clearance earlier. Are you suggesting now, knowing what you guys know with hindsight and whatever, are you saying that they should have -- you believe that the Obama administration should have denied him his clearance back in April based on the information that you’re now aware of -- connections with Russia, et cetera, et cetera? Are you suggesting that they should have denied it?[/FONT]
[FONT="]
MR. SPICER: No. What I’m suggesting is, is that you can’t have it both ways. That the folks who are coming out and saying Obama expressed some concern about Flynn -- well, number one, it was pretty expected. This is a guy who was very outspoken in his criticism of President Obama’s policies. So the idea that President Obama didn’t like the guy doesn’t seem shocking. [/FONT]
[FONT="]But the point that you have to ask yourself is, if the Obama administration, or under the Obama administration, if they reissued one of the highest security clearances that you can get -- knowing what they knew then -- and then didn’t do anything to take a proactive step to suspend it in any way, shape, or form, the question you have to ask yourself is, if they were concerned, why didn’t they take any steps? They’re the ones who had, at that point, all the access and all the knowledge to everything that was on his SF-86 security clearance -- not us. [/FONT]
[FONT="]So if President Obama or anyone else, frankly, in the government was concerned, the question should be asked, what did they do? And if nothing, then why not, if they really truly were concerned? I think that is a fair question.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Q Two questions as it relates to President Trump and former President Obama. Back to that November conversation, were there specific reasons given, as it relates to Michael Flynn? And if so, was that based on private information?[/FONT]
[FONT="]MR. SPICER: I don’t know the answer to that. I know that, like I said, he passed along exactly what I mentioned to Kristen at the outset.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Michael.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Q Two clarifications. On the signing statement, broadly, not just the subject of HBCUs, are you saying that the President was not aware of the details of that very long signing statement, and it was just something done at --[/FONT]
[FONT="]
MR. SPICER: No, no, no. That’s not -- I’m sorry. No, the President is obviously aware of what happened. The question was asked is -- it is a process. It has happened for administrations going back generations, I’m sure. I don’t have the precise nature of when signing statements came into being. But this is a normal pro forma piece that goes along with a bill signing to make sure that the executive branch’s intent is as understood.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Q But a lot of the things that were in that signing statement were things that were essentially carryovers from things that Obama had also objected to. But the President and the senior staff here was aware of what those things were and approved those being --
[/FONT]
[FONT="]MR. SPICER: Of course, yes.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Q Okay. Second question, on Flynn and the security clearance. You guy have made, both from the podium here and also the President made a big deal of this question of the Obama people gave him the clearance or re-upped the clearance earlier. Are you suggesting now, knowing what you guys know with hindsight and whatever, are you saying that they should have -- you believe that the Obama administration should have denied him his clearance back in April based on the information that you’re now aware of -- connections with Russia, et cetera, et cetera? Are you suggesting that they should have denied it?[/FONT]
[FONT="]
MR. SPICER: No. What I’m suggesting is, is that you can’t have it both ways. That the folks who are coming out and saying Obama expressed some concern about Flynn -- well, number one, it was pretty expected. This is a guy who was very outspoken in his criticism of President Obama’s policies. So the idea that President Obama didn’t like the guy doesn’t seem shocking. [/FONT]
[FONT="]But the point that you have to ask yourself is, if the Obama administration, or under the Obama administration, if they reissued one of the highest security clearances that you can get -- knowing what they knew then -- and then didn’t do anything to take a proactive step to suspend it in any way, shape, or form, the question you have to ask yourself is, if they were concerned, why didn’t they take any steps? They’re the ones who had, at that point, all the access and all the knowledge to everything that was on his SF-86 security clearance -- not us. [/FONT]
[FONT="]So if President Obama or anyone else, frankly, in the government was concerned, the question should be asked, what did they do? And if nothing, then why not, if they really truly were concerned? I think that is a fair question.[/FONT]
Donald J. Trump
