The CIA has refused Robin Townley the level of defence accreditation required to have a seat on the National Security Council (NSC).

Robin Townley had been appointed chief assistant to the National Security Advisor, General Michael Flynn. He should have held the office of the NSC Director for Africa but he found himself left with no other option than to resign.
The Agency’s decision is a “quid pro quo” to President Trump’s Memorandum which effectively put an end to the Director of the CIA having a permanent seat on the NSC.

At the same time, the CIA is trying to prove that General Flynn’s contacts with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak, prior to the [US] Presidential Election had all the elements of a federal crime. According to the Agency, if Michael Flynn confirmed to the diplomat declarations made by Donald Trump on the need to lift sanctions imposed on Moscow, even if these declarations were in the public domain, he would [still] have committed the crime of espionage.

“Turmoil at the National Security Council, From the Top Down”, David Sanger, Eric Schmitt, Peter Baker, The New York Times, February 12, 2017.

Translation
Anoosha Boralessa