A Russian lawmaker on Tuesday railed against the resignation of Michael Flynn as national security adviser over his contacts with Moscow, calling it “not even a little paranoid, but something far worse.”
Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, placed the blame squarely on President Trump.
“Either Trump hasn’t found the necessary independence and he’s been driven into a corner … or Russophobia has permeated the new administration from top to bottom,” Kosachev wrote on Facebook.
Flynn announced his resignation late Monday after admitting he gave “incomplete information” about his talks with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Moscow has conceded that Flynn and Kislyak were in communication, but denied they discussed the sanctions former President Obama imposed on Russia for its meddling in the presidential election.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov backed off commenting on the president’s relationship with Russia, saying it’s an “internal affair, an issue for the Trump administration, and not our business,” the Russian news agency TASS reported.
Kosachev questioned why there was such a heated reaction to Flynn communicating with a Russian envoy.
“But even a willingness to engage in dialogue with the Russians is perceived by the hawks in Washington as a thought crime,” he wrote in his posting.
His colleague in the parliament, Alexei Pushkov wrote on Twitter: “It was not Flynn who was targeted but relations with Russia.”