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Michael Flynn timeline: How and why did Trump's key adviser resign? | Michael Flynn timeline: How and why did Trump's key adviser resign? |
(3 months later) | |
Donald Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has resigned over his contacts with Russia, after just three weeks and three days in the job. | Donald Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has resigned over his contacts with Russia, after just three weeks and three days in the job. |
It is alleged that he discussed diplomatic issues with the Russian ambassador to the US before assuming his role at the White House. | It is alleged that he discussed diplomatic issues with the Russian ambassador to the US before assuming his role at the White House. |
It is illegal for private citizens to conduct US diplomacy. | It is illegal for private citizens to conduct US diplomacy. |
The issue has been a communications nightmare for Mr Trump's top team. | The issue has been a communications nightmare for Mr Trump's top team. |
Here is a round-up of how events have escalated. | Here is a round-up of how events have escalated. |
December 2015: Michael Flynn is paid more than $45,000 (£34,767) by state-sponsored broadcaster Russia Today (RT) to give an address at the network's 10th anniversary gala in Moscow | |
10 November 2016: Then-President Barack Obama warns newly elected President Donald Trump against hiring Mr Flynn as his national security adviser | |
18 November 2016: Mr Flynn is announced as the next US national security adviser, despite major questions over his links to Russia. His role, as part of the president's executive office, does not require approval from the Senate | |
28 December: Mr Flynn and the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergei Kislyak, exchange Christmas text messages | |
29 December: Mr Obama announces sanctions expelling 35 Russian diplomats for the country's alleged interference in the US presidential elections | |
29 December: Mr Flynn holds a phone call with the Russian ambassador | 29 December: Mr Flynn holds a phone call with the Russian ambassador |
15 January 2017: Vice-President Mike Pence says, on US television network CBS, that he had spoken to Mr Flynn about the phone call and can confirm that it had "nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions" | 15 January 2017: Vice-President Mike Pence says, on US television network CBS, that he had spoken to Mr Flynn about the phone call and can confirm that it had "nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions" |
20 January 2017: President Trump and his executive team, including Mr Flynn, take office | 20 January 2017: President Trump and his executive team, including Mr Flynn, take office |
22 January: The Wall Street Journal reports Mr Flynn is under investigation by US counterintelligence | 22 January: The Wall Street Journal reports Mr Flynn is under investigation by US counterintelligence |
26/27 January: The Justice Department contacts the top lawyer in the White House, Donald McGahn, about Mr Flynn's communications with Mr Kislyak, warning that Mr Flynn may be vulnerable to Russian blackmail. Mr McGahn informs Mr Trump. At the president's request, White House lawyers conduct a review. After questioning Mr Flynn on "several occasions", they conclude there were no legal issues with the call | |
8 February: Mr Flynn, in an interview with the Washington Post, denies discussing sanctions with the Russian ambassador | 8 February: Mr Flynn, in an interview with the Washington Post, denies discussing sanctions with the Russian ambassador |
9 February: Mr Flynn's spokesman backs away from the denial, saying Mr Flynn "indicated that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn't be certain that the topic never came up" | 9 February: Mr Flynn's spokesman backs away from the denial, saying Mr Flynn "indicated that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn't be certain that the topic never came up" |
10 February: President Trump tells reporters aboard Air Force One he has not seen the reports about Mr Flynn. "I don't know about that. I haven't seen it," he says | 10 February: President Trump tells reporters aboard Air Force One he has not seen the reports about Mr Flynn. "I don't know about that. I haven't seen it," he says |
11/12 February: Mr Flynn spends the weekend at Mar-a-Lago, Mr Trump's Florida estate, alongside the president and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Trump administration faces its first international crisis: a North Korean missile launch | 11/12 February: Mr Flynn spends the weekend at Mar-a-Lago, Mr Trump's Florida estate, alongside the president and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Trump administration faces its first international crisis: a North Korean missile launch |
12/13 February 2017: Stephen Miller, President Trump's top policy adviser, declines to say when asked in a number of interviews whether Mr Trump backed Mr Flynn | 12/13 February 2017: Stephen Miller, President Trump's top policy adviser, declines to say when asked in a number of interviews whether Mr Trump backed Mr Flynn |
13 February 2017: | 13 February 2017: |
14 February 2017: White House spokesman Sean Spicer defends the 18-day period between when the DOJ alerted the White House to Mr Flynn's deception and when he was fired. Mr Trump "instinctively" felt that Mr Flynn had done nothing wrong, Mr Spicer tells reporters, adding that to have acted sooner would have violated Mr Flynn's right to due process. | |
16 February 2017:Mr Trump says Mr Flynn is "a fine person" during a raucous 77-minute press conference at the White House, but that he was "not happy" with his performance. He does not directly address the 18-day delay in his firing. | |
19 February 2017: Chief of Staff Reince Priebus is asked about the 18-day waiting period, and describes the DOJ notification as a "heads-up". He says legal counsel did not believe Mr Flynn broke the law, but "we started thinking about whether or not Michael Flynn was being straight with us". | |
30 March 2017: Mr Flynn's lawyer, Robert Kelner, says his client wants immunity to testify on alleged Russian election meddling. Mr Flynn "has a story to tell", but needs to guard against "unfair prosecution", Mr Kelner says in a statement |