President-elect Donald Trump gave the direct order for the son of his national security adviser designate to leave his transition team, CNN's Jake Tapper reports.
Michael Flynn, Jr., son of former Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, has come under fire in the past few days after giving credence to a conspiracy theory that a pizza restaurant in Washington, D.C., was involved in a child sex ring that was linked to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager John Podesta.
Tapper has tweeted extensively on Flynn's role in the transition and his continued questions about "Pizzagate" since an armed man entered Comet Ping Pong in Washington on Sunday, firing shots and saying he had come to investigate the "Pizzagate" story.
Flynn has continued to talk about "Pizzagate" on his own Twitter timeline, and has accused Tapper of trolling him with direct messages on the social media platform.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who is heading up Trump's transition team, appeared for a live interview on Tapper's "The Lead" on Tuesday afternoon, where Tapper grilled him on Flynn's role on the team.
Pence would not comment on whether Trump personally called for Flynn's removal, but attempted to downplay the younger Flynn's role.
"I said this morning that his son had no involvement in the transition," Pence said. "But I have talked to Gen. Flynn. His son was helping him a bit with scheduling and administrative items. But that's no longer the case."
Pence said all the team members families are eager to help with the transition.
But Tapper noted that the younger Flynn had received a security clearance.
"Do you need security clearance to do scheduling?" Tapper asked.
Pence said he has worked closely with the elder Flynn, and has never in their multiple meetings seen his son present. He did say, however, that the clearance that "was needed in that regard was taking place. But that's no longer the case.
"But Jake, this is all the kind of distraction that, frankly, I know, with all due respect, the national media likes to chase after," Pence said.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.