The plot thickens.
New information reported by Foreign Policy (“Flynn Pressured U.N. on Israel Vote Before Taking Office“).
Nearly a month before Donald Trump was sworn in as president, Michael Flynn, his national security advisor designate, and other members of the president’s transition team launched a vigorous diplomatic bid to head off a U.N. Security Council vote condemning Israeli settlements.
The effort represented a fitful first foray into global diplomacy by Trump’s transition team, bearing hallmarks that have become familiar in the weeks since he took office. Their efforts were marked by a brusque disregard for diplomatic protocol and a hasty pressure campaign that changed few, if any, minds.
In the end, the president-elect’s team was unable to persuade a single country to change their vote, including Britain, Egypt, and Russia, three countries that have gone out of their way to cultivate better ties with the new American leader.
The episode also suggests that Flynn’s unconventional diplomatic activism in the weeks leading up to the inauguration was part of a highly coordinated effort at the highest ranks of the Trump team, including the president-elect, to shape the course of U.S. foreign relations.
That contrasts with the general portrayal so far of Flynn as a rogue envoy, whose secret talks in late December with Russia about sanctions were supposedly done without the knowledge of his superiors. Fox News reported Friday that Trump had been briefed on the full contents of Flynn’s discussions with the Russian ambassador. [Emphasis added]
It’s well worth reading the full story at ForeignPolicy.com.
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Speaking of Trump, Tulsi Gabbard had some interesting things to say to a progressive group in Pennsylvania.
http://www.politicspa.com/tulsi-gabbard-talks-resistance-to-pennsylvania-progressives/81664/
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Despite a reputation as a progressive hero, Gabbard has taken heat from the left in recent months for signaling a willingness to work with President Trump. She had a high-profile meeting with Trump in November. She pushed back on that criticism Friday.
“There are some who think that the best way to approach the next four years is through constant and consistent obstruction at every step and every turn. I disagree with that,” she said.
“We can best serve our communities, our state and our country by stepping up as leaders.”
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Ms. Tulsi is quite the political tightrope walker, isn’t she? On one hand, she calls for Democrats to drop the hyper-dogmatic posturing to anything and everything that Trump says and does. She rankled many in the Muslim community (and their Dem allies who cater to identity politics) when she met up with Assad in Syria. Yet, her endorsement of Sanders last year still continues to give her quite a bit of cred with progressives on the mainland. She’s a shrewd one, gotta give her that.