WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday said the F.B.I. ruined the life of his former national security adviser and said his Democratic opponent for president, Hillary Clinton, suffered no consequences after she lied “many times” to the F.B.I.

Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump’s first national security adviser, pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to the F.B.I. when he was questioned early this year about his conversations with the Russian ambassador. He was the fourth person charged in the investigation of Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel appointed to lead an inquiry into Russia’s influence on the 2016 election and possible ties to Trump associates.

As he left for Utah on Monday, the president said he felt “very badly” for Mr. Flynn, whom he fired in February for lying to the vice president about the content of these conversations.

 

“I feel badly for General Flynn,” Mr. Trump said on Monday. “I feel very badly. He’s led a very strong life and I feel very badly. Hillary Clinton lied many times to the F.B.I. Nothing happened to her. Flynn lied and they destroyed his life.”

Mr. Trump did not cite specifically what Mrs. Clinton said that he considered a lie.

Mrs. Clinton gave a voluntary interview to the bureau in July 2016 during its investigation into whether she or her aides broke the law by corresponding through a private email server set up for her use as secretary of state. A few days later, the F.B.I. director at the time, James B. Comey, recommended no charges be filed against her in the matter.

As Mr. Trump headed to Salt Lake City to address his plan to shrink a national monument, he left behind questions about whether he was previously aware that Mr. Flynn lied to the F.B.I. but did not act swiftly to fire him, based on comments he made on Twitter over the weekend.

Mr. Trump on Monday also offered a strong endorsement of Roy S. Moore, the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama embroiled in accusations that he had inappropriate sexual relations with underage girls.

Roy S. Moore addressing a crowd in Dora, Ala., last week. The Senate candidate and has resisted calls from fellow Republicans to quit the race after several women accused him of sexual abuse when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s.

While many Republicans called for Mr. Moore to drop out of the race after several women came out with their stories, Mr. Trump has defended him, saying that Mr. Moore denied the accounts and deserved to be heard.

“We need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama,” Mr. Trump said in an early morning Twitter post on Monday.

Mr. Moore, a former state Supreme Court judge, has been accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl and of sexually assaulting another teenager when he was a prosecutor in his 30s. He has denied any sexual misconduct, and rejected all calls to quit the race.

The former judge said he was grateful for Mr. Trump’s endorsement.

“Thankful for President Trump’s support,” Mr. Moore said in a Twitter post on Monday.

https://twitter.com/MooreSenate/status/937664650640060416

The fight over the highly contested Senate seat, which became vacant when Mr. Trump tapped Jeff Sessions to be his attorney general, comes at a time when sexual misconduct has become a national discussion.

Source: New York Times

 

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