Sebastian Gorka, President Trump’s former deputy assistant, floated fired White House national security adviser Michael Flynn on Wednesday as a possible replacement for outgoing chief of staff John Kelly.
“The president could pardon General Flynn, and he’d make a great chief of staff, don’t you think?” Mr. Gorka said during an interview aired on the Fox News channel.
A member of the Trump administration through Aug. 2017, Mr. Gorka made the suggestion as Flynn, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, prepares to be sentenced in federal court for lying to FBI agents about his contacts with a senior Russian government official in late 2016.
Flynn, 59, pleaded guilty last year to one count of willfully and knowingly making “false, fictitious and fraudulent statements” to investigators involving conversations he had with Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s former U.S. ambassador, while working on Mr. Trump’s presidential transition team. He is scheduled to be sentenced next week.
Mr. Trump announced over the weekend that Mr. Kelly, his chief of staff since July 2017 will exit that role at the end of the month, resolving months of rumors about his imminent resignation and spurring speculation with respect to his replacement.
The White House did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Mr. Gorka, 48, served as deputy assistant to the president during Mr. Trump’s first seven months in office. He claimed he resigned from the role, though a White House official previously disputed that characterization. He has since joined Fox News as a contributor.
Mr. Trump has previously issued presidential pardons to some of his supporters, including former lawman Joe Arpaio and conservative commentator Dinesh D’Soua.
Flynn admitted in his Dec. 2017 plea agreement that he lied to investigators about the nature of his conversations with Mr. Kislyak during the presidential transition period. He initially denied discussing the removal of Russian sanctions by the Trump administration with Mr. Kisylak, but he later reversed course.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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