Pence confirms security clearance was requested for Michael Flynn Jr.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence reluctantly and indirectly confirmed on Tuesday that a security clearance was requested for Michael Flynn Jr., the son of President-elect Donald Trump's incoming national security adviser.

In an interview with CNN, Pence repeatedly dodged host Jake Tapper’s questions about whether Flynn Jr. was requested for a clearance.

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“I said this morning that his [retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s] son had no involvement in the transition, but I have talked to General Flynn, and his son was helping him a bit with scheduling and administrative items, but that's no longer the case.” Pence said, referring to comments earlier in the day when he said Flynn Jr. wasn’t involved with the transition “whatsoever."

After those remarks, reporters noted that Flynn Jr. had been assigned a transition email address and was spotted going in and out of Trump Tower.

As Tapper accused Pence of downplaying Flynn Jr.’s role, he insisted that Pence “must have been aware” that a security clearance was requested for him. Pence repeatedly replied by saying that he was aware Flynn Jr. was helping his father.

“Well, whatever the appropriate paperwork was to assist him in that regard, Jake, I'm sure was taking place,” Pence eventually conceded after being asked the same question a total of seven times.

Emails sent to Flynn Jr.'s transition email address bounced back on Tuesday.

Flynn Jr.'s apparent firing comes after he repeatedly circulated conspiracy theories online.

One such conspiracy theory was “Pizza Gate," the cause of an armed assault on a pizza restaurant in Northwest Washington, D.C. Stories on fringe websites and social media networks had claimed, falsely, that Hillary Clinton is involved in running a child sex trafficking ring out of the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria.

A man suspected of firing a weapon inside the restaurant, who claimed he thought he was rescuing child sex slaves, surrendered to authorities and was arrested on Sunday.