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Top Democrats on Tuesday accidentally cited a widely-circulated tweet from an account masquerading as Michael Flynn.
Flynn resigned as national security adviser on Monday night after just 24 days on the job, the shortest tenure anyone has ever served in the role, amid revelations that he discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition period, and may be susceptible to foreign blackmail.
The New York Times initially reported tweets from a fake Flynn Twitter account which claimed that he was a "scapegoat" for the administration. The newspaper later apologized for the mistake in an editor's note.
During a press conference on Tuesday calling for further investigations into the White House's relationship with Russia, Rep. Elijah Cummings repeated the scapegoat tweet.
"Just this morning, Flynn tweeted — and this is a quote — 'scapegoat.' End of quote. Scapegoat. He basically described himself as a scapegoat. And so I believe we need to hold a public hearing with Flynn to get to the bottom of this," Cummings said.