Flynn reaches out to Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. Flynn reached out to wish the ambassador a merry Christmas and the ambassador returned those greetings. Flynn offered his condolences for the loss of 92 members of a Russian military choir killed in a plane crash.
Flynn pleads guilty to one count of lying to the FBI and states he is cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling. Dec. 2, 2017: Trump says he fired Flynn because he lied to Pence and the FBI
This timeline was originally published on Feb. 14, 2017. Dec. 10, 2015: Michael Flynn travels to Russia; meets with President Vladimir Putin (The election, of course, was Nov. 8, but he wasn't officially declared the victor until early Nov. 9.)
This timeline was originally published on Feb. 14, 2017. Dec. 10, 2015: Michael Flynn travels to Russia; meets with President Vladimir Putin (The election, of course, was Nov. 8, but he wasn't officially declared the victor until early Nov. 9.) Nov. 17, 2016: President-elect Trump offers Flynn White House post as national security adviser
On Christmas Day, before Obama announced his punitive measures against Russia, Flynn communicated with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak. That they talked is not in dispute. The issue is what they said.
Flynn, who had Trump to himself as national security aide during the presidential campaign, now has more competition from Defense Secretary James Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, chief strategist Steve Bannon and others .
He did so by expelling some Russian spies operating under diplomatic cover, closing sites they were using outside Washington and New York, and imposing economic sanctions on Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU; another spy service, the FSB; and their top leaders.
One of the oldest saws in Washington runs like this: "The cover-up is worse than the crime." A senior administration official told NPR on Friday that Pence's comments on Face the Nation were based entirely on the vice president's discussion with Flynn — in other words, that Flynn owns the substance of what the White House said publicly in explaining his contact with the Russian ambassador.
America's intelligence services monitor the communications of foreign agents, and the detail about Flynn's communication with Kislyak was reported ( also in the Post) even before Trump took office. The Trump transition team said Flynn had only wished the ambassador Merry Christmas. Then the Trump camp said the two were making staff-level arrangements for a phone call between Trump and Putin. The Trump team talked about an invitation from Moscow for the U.S. to join Russian-led peace talks about the war in Syria. The timing of the conversations, as Pence explained on television on Jan. 15, was "strictly coincidental."
And now the connections between Trump's camp and Moscow might mean that another top aide, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, could be sent off to Siberia — metaphorically. The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff of California, said Friday that if reports are accurate about Flynn's contact with Russia's ambassador ...
A spokesman for Flynn told the Post that he didn't remember all of what was discussed and that it's possible sanctions might have come up. But on Jan. 15 Pence said categorically on CBS's Face the Nation that Flynn and Kislyak did not talk about sanctions.
Documents released by U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, show Flynn received $33,750 from Russia's state-owned television network for a 2015 speech he made in Moscow.
The Senate Intelligence Committee, as part of its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, announced it sent a subpoena to Flynn for information about communications with Russian officials.
Special counsel Robert Mueller charged Flynn with lying about his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The court filing, which was made public Dec. 1, states Flynn “did willfully and knowingly make materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statements” to FBI agents during a Jan. 24 interview.
Obama announces the Russian sanctions, which include expelling 35 Russian diplomats and the closing of Russian compounds in Maryland and New York that had been suspected of spying. Trump insists the issue should be put to bed but agrees to meet with intelligence officials for a briefing. “It’s time for our country to move on to bigger and better things ,” Trump says.
President Obama orders a review of foreign attempts to tamper with U.S. elections. Trump dismisses the CIA’s finding that the Russians sought to sway the election in his favor. “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.”
Trump, in his first debate with Clinton, continues to express skepticism about Russian involvement. “I mean it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, OK?”
Flynn tells the Senate Intelligence Committee he will invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in declining to provide the committee documents related to its investigation into collusion between associates of Trump's campaign and the Russian government.
Dec. 2, 2017: Trump says he fired Flynn because he lied to Pence and the FBI. Mr. Trump takes to Twitter, saying he fired Flynn because he lied to Pence and the FBI, raising questions about whether Mr. Trump did indeed know Flynn lied to the FBI at the time Flynn was ousted.
Kellyanne Conway says Flynn "does enjoy the full confidence of the president.". An hour later, the White House released a statement saying, "The President is evaluating the situation...".
Kislyak reached out to Flynn to discuss logistics of setting up a phone call between Trump and Putin to take place after Inauguration Day, according to Spicer's Jan . 13 briefing.
Dec. 1, 2017: Flynn pleads guilty to lying to the FBI. Flynn pleads guilty to one count of lying to the FBI and states he is cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling.
The call lasted approximately one hour and ranged in topics from mutual cooperation in defeating ISIS to efforts in working together to achieve more peace throughout the world including Syria. The positive call was a significant start to improving the relationship between the United States and Russia that is in need of repair. Both President Trump and President Putin are hopeful that after today's call the two sides can move quickly to tackle terrorism and other important issues of mutual concern."
Flynn said he doesn't remember any part of the discussion involving sanctions. When asked about possible transcripts of phone conversations that would have been intercepted by U.S. intelligence agencies who may have been monitoring the calls, the official said he hadn't seen them and had no comment.
JOHN DICKERSON: Let me ask you about it was reported by David Ignatius that the incoming national security advisor Michael Flynn was in touch with the Russian ambassador on the day the United States government announced sanctions for Russian interference with the election.