President Donald Trump shouldn't blame his predecessor for his failure to properly vet former national security adviser Mike Flynn, Rep. Adam Schiff said Friday.
According to The Hill, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said at his regular press briefing Thursday that "when Gen. Flynn came into the White House, he had an active security clearance that was issued during the Obama administration."
He added later, "why would you rerun a background check on someone who was the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency that had and did maintain a high-level security clearance?"
Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program where he slammed Trump for not properly vetting Flynn before appointing him to his Cabinet.
"The reality is he was fired by the Obama administration," Schiff said.
"None of this lets the Trump administration off the hook for not doing adequate vetting," he added.
"The president praised Gen. Flynn and I think that's the president's way of saying what Mike Flynn did was perfectly fine with him. He was upset at the press for forcing him to fire Flynn."
Schiff's fellow Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Georgia, questioned Trump's defending Flynn in a press conference Thursday.
"I honestly don't understand why the White House is covering up for Michael Flynn," Cummings said, according to CNN.
"I don't get it, after the President fired him for lying — they should be bending over backwards to help us," he continued.
"It does not make any sense and it makes the American people think they have something to hide. There is a paper trail that the White House does not want our committee to follow it."
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