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Michael Flynn timeline: How and why did Trump's key adviser resign? Trump-Russia scandal: How did we get here?
(3 days 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. A report that Donald Trump asked FBI director James Comey to drop an inquiry into a former White House aide was just the latest twist in a row over the president's potential ties to Russia.
It is alleged that he discussed diplomatic issues with the Russian ambassador to the US before assuming his role at the White House. Cropping up throughout this political saga is Michael Flynn, the national security adviser who quit after just 23 days on the job over his Kremlin contacts.
It is illegal for private citizens to conduct US diplomacy. Here's how it all unfolded:
The issue has been a communications nightmare for Mr Trump's top team. December 2015: Michael Flynn, a retired US Army lieutenant general, is paid more than $45,000 (£34,767) by state-sponsored broadcaster Russia Today to address the network's 10th anniversary gala in Moscow
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 adviser10 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 Senate18 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 28 December 2016: 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 2016: Mr Obama announces sanctions expelling 35 Russian diplomats for the country's alleged interference in the US presidential elections. On the same day, Mr Flynn holds a phone call with the Russian ambassador
29 December: Mr Flynn holds a phone call with the Russian ambassador 6 January 2017: President-elect Trump meets Mr Comey for the first time for an intelligence briefing on a report concluding that Russia had interfered with the US election
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: Vice-President Mike Pence says, on US television network CBS, that he spoke to Mr Flynn about his phone call with the Russian envoy and asserts 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: 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 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.
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 27 January: Mr Comey and Mr Trump have dinner. Mr Trump later says that during the meal Mr Comey asked to keep his job and assured the president he was not under investigation. But Comey associates say the president asked the law enforcement chief to pledge his loyalty. Mr Comey reportedly declined to do so
8 February: Mr Flynn, in an interview with the Washington Post, denies discussing sanctions with the Russian ambassador 10 February: President Trump tells reporters aboard Air Force One he has not seen media reports about Mr Flynn: "I don't know about that. I haven't seen it"
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
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 launch11/12 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 13 February: Mr Flynn resigns. In his resignation letter, he writes: "I inadvertently briefed the vice-president elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador"
13 February 2017: 14 February: Mr Trump again meets Mr Comey. Mr Flynn, meanwhile, is under investigation for his contacts with the Russian ambassador and his business dealings with Russian and Turkish lobbyists
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: 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
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. 2 March: Attorney General Jeff Sessions recuses himself from any current or future Russia investigations after it emerges that he met Russian officials during the US election campaign, which he had not previously disclosed to Congress
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". 4 March: The president claims on Twitter that former President Barack Obama wiretapped his phones during the US election. A spokesman for Mr Obama denies the claim. Mr Comey reportedly asks the Justice Department to publicly reject the allegation, but no such denial is forthcoming
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 20 March: Mr Comey confirms publicly for the first time in a congressional hearing that the FBI is investigating Russia's alleged interference in the US election and that there is no evidence to support the president's wiretapping allegations
30 March: 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
12 April: Mr Trump says in an interview he has "confidence" in Mr Comey
2 May: The president tweets: "FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!"
3 May: Mr Comey testifies before a congressional panel about why he decided to re-open the Clinton investigation just days before the election. He says it makes him "mildly nauseous" to think he may have had an impact on the election
8 May: Mr Trump meets Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to discuss firing Mr Comey. The president later tweets: "The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?"
9 May: The president sends his bodyguard to deliver a letter to FBI HQ, informing Mr Comey that he is fired. The White House says Mr Trump fired Mr Comey on the recommendation of the deputy attorney general, who argued that Mr Comey botched an inquiry into Hillary Clinton's emails
10 May: The president meets a Russian delegation in the Oval Office and US press is excluded. A photographer for a Russian state news agency is allowed in
11 May: In an interview with NBC News, Mr Trump says: "When I decided to just do it [fire Mr Comey], I said to myself, I said, 'you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story...'
15 May: Media reports suggest Mr Trump let slip highly classified information during his meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian envoy Sergei Kislyak
16 May: US media reports that Mr Comey wrote a memo about his 14 February meeting with the president, saying that Mr Trump asked him to shut down his agency's inquiry into Mr Flynn. The White House says that is "not an accurate description"
17 May: Russian President Vladimir Putin offers to release a record of Mr Trump's 10 May meeting with Russian officials. Moscow maintains that Mr Trump did not pass on classified information