Locals React To News About Michael Flynn Pleading Guilty To Lying To FBI
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) -- The nation was stunned and Los Angeles was no different when the news came out that Michael Flynn, President Trump's former national security advisor, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
In a plea deal, he also promised full cooperation with the Robert Mueller investigation. One bombshell, already -- Flynn suggested he was given orders to meet with Russians. That order came from a high-ranking official in the administration. (It's widely believed to have come from Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law.)
CBS2's Greg Mills spoke to locals for their reaction to the news. He started in Pasadena where Trump's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, was signing copies of her book.
Clinton fans, many of them waiting as much as five hours to see and meet the former Secretary of State, were excited to buy her book, too.
She had her book on her mind when asked about the Flynn revelations.
"You can read a lot about Russia in this book," she quipped.
What Do Prosecutors Want In Return From Flynn?
You can also read the court documents filed by Mueller and his team of investigators. He charged Flynn with lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.
A lot of people reading the tea leaves of Flynn, long considered a loose cannon, say his cooperating with authorities is not good if anyone has anything to hide.
"This is very dangerous for President Trump. It's like dominoes. A couple of dominoes have already fallen, this is a big one and more are going to fall in the future," said Jack Pitney, professor of American Politics at Claremont McKenna College.
Of course, there were also those who took today's events as no biggie.
"He got screwed. They are totally setting him up," said Roberta Fox, a woman interviewed on the street.
In Washington there was more outrage about Flynn admitting he lied to the FBI.
"This is the national security advisor for the country, the chief advises the President. In terms of protecting our country and basically he has admitted that he was a liar," said Rep. Adam Schiff.
"Revelations today suggested [Flynn] was given certain instructions and then when he carried them out and was caught, the Trump administration abandoned him. That should not surprise him. Trump abandons everybody." Pitney said.
Mills asked Pitney who might be next. And he told him, that if he were Jared Kushner he might not be sleeping well at night.
