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| - Former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to the FBI about contacts he had with a Russian ambassador. Here is a comprehensive timeline of the actions and events that led to this moment, based on government documents and news reports.
Incoming Trump administration response
Flynn spoke to Sergey Kislyak, the then Russian ambassador, and asked Russia to delay or defeat a pending U.N. Security Council resolution, according to a criminal information filed in federal court by the special prosecutor. The conversation concerned Resolution 2334, demanding Israel stop all settlement activity. A statement of offense filed in court says that a “a very senior transition official” directed Flynn to call Russia and other governments about the resolution. The official is not identified but media reports said it is Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. President-elect Trump was vocally opposed to the U.N. resolution, tweeting on the morning of Flynn’s conversation that it should be vetoed.
(The resolution was adopted on Dec. 23 by the council in a 14-to-zero vote, with the United States abstaining.)
Dec. 29, 2016
Obama administration action
The Obama administration announces measures against Russia in retaliation for what U.S. officials characterized as interference in the 2016 election, ordering the expulsion of Russian “intelligence operatives” and slapping new sanctions on state agencies and individuals suspected in the hacks of U.S. computer systems.
Russian response
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announces 35 U.S. diplomats will be declared persona non grata. “We, of course, cannot leave unanswered the insults of the kind; reciprocity is the law of diplomacy and foreign relations,” Lavrov says. “Thus, the Russian Foreign Ministry and officials of other authorities have suggested the Russian president to announce 31 personnel of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and four diplomats from the Consulate General in St. Petersburg persona non grata.”
Lavrov’s message is echoed in a series of tweets by the Russian Embassy in Washington, promising an announcement on Dec. 30:
#Peskov: There is no doubt that Russia's adequate and mirror response will make Washington officials feel very uncomfortable as well— Russian Embassy in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) December 29, 2016
#Zakharova: Tomorrow there will be official statements, countermeasures@MFA_Russia— Russian Embassy in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) December 29, 2016
Announced on December 29 sanctions are aimed directly at undermining #Russia🇷🇺 #US🇺🇸 bilateral relations. They won't be left unanswered— Russian Embassy in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) December 30, 2016
Incoming Trump administration response
Flynn speaks by phone with Kislyak and discusses the sanctions and suggests the possibility of sanctions relief once Trump is sworn into office. The call is monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies.
The criminal information says Flynn asked Kislyak to “refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions that the United States had imposed on Russia that same day.” Kislyak subsequently told Flynn “that Russia has chosen to moderate its response to those sanctions as a result of his request,” the information says.
Before and after his conversations with Kislyak, Flynn called senior Trump transition officials at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate to discuss the conversations, according to a statement of offense filed in court. The officials are not identified.
Dec. 30
Russian government action
In a surprise, Russian President Vladimir Putin announces in a statement that Russia will not take action against the sanctions.
“As it proceeds from international practice, Russia has reasons to respond in kind,” Putin says. “Although we have the right to retaliate, we will not resort to irresponsible ‘kitchen’ diplomacy but will plan our further steps to restore Russian-US relations based on the policies of the Trump Administration.” Putin’s announcement is made in the afternoon of Dec. 30, or morning in the United States.
Incoming Trump administration response
Trump tweets approvingly and pins the tweet at the top of his Twitter page. (The White House insists that Trump had no prior knowledge of Flynn’s conversations about sanctions with Kislyak.)
Dec. 31
Kislyak calls Flynn and tells him that Russia has decided not respond to the sanctions because of Flynn’s request, the statement of offense says. Flynn then calls senior members of the Trump transition team to tell them about the conversation.
Jan. 12, 2017
The Washington Post’s David Ignatius reports that Flynn and Kislyak spoke around the time of sanctions announcement. “According to a senior U.S. government official, Flynn phoned Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak several times on Dec. 29, the day the Obama administration announced the expulsion of 35 Russian officials as well as other measures in retaliation for the hacking. What did Flynn say, and did it undercut the U.S. sanctions?”
Jan. 13
Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer, in a conference call with reporters, denies that sanctions were discussed. The conversation between Flynn and Kislyak had “centered on the logistics” of a post-inauguration call between Trump and Putin. “That was it, plain and simple,” Spicer says.
Jan. 14
Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Flynn have a conversation, in which Pence says Flynn assured him that “the conversations that took place at that time were not in any way related to the new U.S. sanctions against Russia or the expulsion of diplomats,” according to an account Pence later gave “Fox News Sunday.”
Jan. 15
Pence, during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” denies that sanctions were discussed. Saying he had spoken about the issue with Flynn, Pence says the incoming national security adviser and Kislyak “did not discuss anything having to do with the United States’ decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia.”
Pence adds: “General Flynn has been in touch with diplomatic leaders, security leaders in some 30 countries. That’s exactly what the incoming national security adviser should do. But what I can confirm, having spoken to him about it, is that those conversations that happened to occur around the time that the United States took action to expel diplomats had nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions.”
Meanwhile, incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” says: “I have talked to General Flynn. None of that came up, and the subject matter of sanctions or the actions taken by the Obama administration did not come up in the conversation.”
Jan. 20
Trump takes the oath of office and becomes president.
Jan. 23
Spicer, in his first official news briefing, again is asked about Flynn’s communications with Kislyak. Spicer says that he had talked to Flynn about the issue “again last night.” There was just “one call,” Spicer says, adding that it covered four subjects: a plane crash that claimed the lives of a Russian military choir; Christmas greetings; Russian-led talks over the Syrian civil war; and the logistics of setting up a call between Putin and Trump. Spicer insists that was the extent of the conversation.
Jan. 24
Flynn is interviewed by the FBI about his conversations with Kislyak. (He now admits he lied repeatedly during the interview.)
Jan. 26
Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, accompanied by an aide, goes to the White House and tells White House counsel Don McGahn that, contrary to Flynn’s claims to White House officials, sanctions had been discussed in the calls, based on the monitoring of the conversations by intelligence agencies. She also warns that Flynn is vulnerable to blackmail.
“We also told the White House counsel that General Flynn had been interviewed by the FBI on February [sic.] 24,” Yates said in congressional testimony on May 8. “Mr. McGahn asked me how he did and I declined to give him an answer to that. And we then walked through with Mr. McGahn essentially why we were telling them about this and the first thing we did was to explain to Mr. McGahn that the underlying conduct that General Flynn had engaged in was problematic in and of itself. Secondly, we told him we felt like the vice president and others were entitled to know that the information that they were conveying to the American people wasn’t true.”
“The president was immediately informed of the situation,” Spicer told reporters on Feb. 14, after Flynn’s departure. The White House counsel determined that Flynn would have broken no laws in his discussions, Spicer adds. The White House has not disclosed the length or depth of the counsel’s inquiry into that question, except to say it was “extensive” and took “days.”
Jan. 27
McGahn asks Yates to come to the White House again to discuss the matter further. Yates testified that he did not indicate whether he had discussed the Flynn situation with anyone else at the White House. McGahn asked why the Justice Department would be concerned whether one White House official lied to another, she said. “Logic would tell you that you don’t want the national security adviser to be in a position where the Russians have leverage over him,” she said.
McGahn also asks to see the underlying evidence. Yates says she would work with the FBI to assemble the material and McGahn’s review is scheduled for Jan. 30.
That night, Trump and then-FBI Director James B. Comey have dinner at the White House. They disagree on who asked for the one-on-one meeting, which Comey says was unusual. Comey says Trump asked him that night for his “loyalty.” Trump has denied this, telling one interviewer: “I didn’t, but I don’t think it would be a bad question to ask.”
Jan. 30
Trump fires Yates, allegedly over an unrelated matter — her conclusion that Trump’s executive order barring travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries is “unlawful.” (The executive order is later blocked by the courts.)
Feb. 9
The Washington Post, citing nine sources, reports that Flynn had discussed sanctions in the phone calls. Flynn initially denied he had discussed sanctions in an interview with The Post but then amended his comment. He “indicated that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up.”
According to an aide to Pence, not until The Post’s report appeared did the vice president learn that Flynn had given him false information about his contacts with Kislyak. So, according to the White House’s account, Trump had known of the Flynn’s false statements for two weeks but had not informed Pence.
Feb. 10
Trump, asked about the media reports about Flynn, suggests it is news to him: “I don’t know about that. I haven’t seen it. What report is that? I haven’t seen that. I’ll look into that.” Spicer later says Trump was saying he had not seen the specific report in The Post, not that he was unaware that Flynn had spoken to Kislyak about sanctions.
Feb. 13
The Post reports that the White House had known for weeks that Flynn had misled about the nature of the calls. Flynn is forced to resign within hours after the article is posted.
Feb. 14
In an Oval Office meeting, Trump asks Comey to end the investigation of Flynn, according to Comey.
Comey’s version (from written congressional testimony, June 8):
“On February 14, I went to the Oval Office for a scheduled counterterrorism briefing of the President,” Comey said in his congressional testimony. “The President signaled the end of the briefing by thanking the group and telling them all that he wanted to speak to me alone….When the door by the grandfather clock closed, and we were alone, the President began by saying, ‘I want to talk about Mike Flynn.’ … The President began by saying Flynn hadn’t done anything wrong in speaking with the Russians, but he had to let him go because he had misled the Vice President. He added that he had other concerns about Flynn, which he did not then specify… ‘He is a good guy and has been through a lot.’ He repeated that Flynn hadn’t done anything wrong on his calls with the Russians, but had misled the Vice President. He then said, ‘I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.’ I replied only that ‘he is a good guy.’ …I did not say I would ‘let this go.’”
Under questioning by lawmakers, Comey said that given the setting and the fact that Trump asked to see him alone, he took the president’s words as a directive. “It rings in my ear as kind of, ‘Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?” Comey said, regarding Henry II’s alleged words that led to the murder of Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury, in 1170. He said that at time Flynn was in “legal jeopardy.”
Trump’s version:
Trump’s lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, said after Comey’s testimony: “The president never in form or substance directed or suggested that Mr. Comey stop investigating anyone, including the president never suggested that Mr. Comey, quote, ‘Let Flynn go,’ close quote.” Trump also denied he asked Comey to ease up on the investigation.
Feb. 16
At a news conference, a reporter directly asks Trump: “Did you direct Mike Flynn to discuss sanctions with the Russian ambassador?” Trump answers, “No, I didn’t.”
Trump adds: “I fired him because of what he said to Mike Pence. Very simple. Mike was doing his job. He was calling countries and his counterparts. So, it certainly would have been OK with me if he did it. I would have directed him to do it if I thought he wasn’t doing it. I didn’t direct him, but I would have directed him because that’s his job.”
May 9
Comey is fired. In his note to Comey, Trump says, “I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation.” (Trump appears to be referring to the conversations recounted by Comey on Jan. 6, Jan. 27 and March 30.)
May 10
Trump meets with Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Kislyak. “I just fired the head of the F.B.I.,” Trump says, according to a White House summary of the conversation. “He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”
Trump adds: “I’m not under investigation.”
May 17
Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein appoints a special counsel, former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III, to oversee the Russia probe and investigate any related matters, such as obstruction of justice and perjury.
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