White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Friday that President Donald Trump believes that former National Security adviser Michael Flynn should do "whatever it takes" to testify to Congress about possible Russian dealings, though he would not say whether any appearance should come with immunity.
"The president is very clear: He wants Mike Flynn to be open and transparent and whatever it takes," Spicer told reporters at the daily press briefing. "He wants him to do what is necessary to go up there and talk to the committees of jurisdiction to get this behind us."
But Spicer refused to say whether any deal should include immunity, which Flynn proposed to House and Senate intelligence committees on Thursday.
"The bottom line is he's instructing Mike Flynn to do everything that he should to cooperate with the committees," he said. "I think Mike Flynn should do what is appropriate for Mike Flynn."
President Trump tweeted earlier Friday that Flynn, whom he fired in February amid questions about forthrightness about his Russian dealings, should "ask for immunity" in exchange for testifying.
Trump also slammed the investigations as a "witch hunt" and an "excuse for big election loss."
Flynn offered to testify in exchange for immunity — and his attorney, Robert Kelner, said later Thursday that his client "has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should the circumstances permit."
The Senate Intelligence Committee reportedly has rejected Flynn's request.
Spicer expressed confidence that Flynn does not have any information that could damage President Trump or his administration.
"Nope," he said in response to the question from a reporter.
"Here you have a president telling Mike Flynn and others to go up there," Spicer added. "This doesn't look like an administration that isn't doing everything it can to get to the bottom of this in an appropriate way.
"That's been lost on a lot of you."
He also disputed House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz's attack on Trump's tweet and for saying that the president should not be commenting on an ongoing congressional investigation.
Spicer noted that only one investigation is going on: Russia's role in the presidential election.
"There's a difference between the investigations that have been discussed about Russia that we have been very clear about and a discussion about whether something, as [California Rep.] Devin Nunes said very publicly: the information that he had with respect to surveillance during the 2016 election cycle had nothing to do with Russia.
"I think that is adversely different," Spicer added. "As far as I know, we've asked them to look into this matter.
"There's no investigation that I'm aware of."
"So you take issue with Jason Chaffetz?" the reporter asked.
"I'll let him speak for himself."