National security adviser Michael Flynn resigns over contacts with Russian Federation

A top White House aide has sidestepped repeated chances to publicly defend embattled national security adviser Michael Flynn following reports he engaged in conversations with a Russian diplomat about United States sanctions before President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

The US Justice Department had warned the Trump administration last month that Mr Flynn was vulnerable to blackmail by Russian Federation.

Officials and experts say such a disclosure with an adversary of the United States is a remarkable breach of security protocol and a potential violation of the Logan Act – a federal statute that prohibits USA citizens from interfering in diplomatic disputes with another country.

Yates-the acting attorney general who was sacked after refusing to defend Trump’s Muslim ban in court, believing (correctly) that it was illegal-and a national security official eventually informed White House counsel Donald McGahn of the FBI’s findings in late January.

Within minutes of Michael Flynn’s resignation, questions began to swirl over just how deep-seated the ex-national security adviser’s ties to Russian Federation actually are – and who else within the Trump administration might have known about them.

Flynn then reportedly caused rifts in the Trump administration after senior officials – including Vice President Mike Pence – defended him publicly, only to discover he had misled them.

Flynn initially told Trump advisers that he did not discuss sanctions with the Russian envoy during the transition.

Flynn is said to have given ” incomplete information” ro the white house officials about his discussions with the Russian ambassador over U.S. sanctions against Moscow. According to Washington Post, Flynn did discuss with Russia’s Ambassador Sergey Kislyak the issue of sanctions on December 29, before he had been confirmed.

But the conversation, according to officials who saw the transcript of the wiretap, also included a discussion about sanctions imposed on Russian Federation after intelligence agencies determined that Putin’s government tried to interfere with the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf. Flynn originally told Pence and others that the call was limited to small talk and holiday pleasantries.

CNN reported late Monday that an administration source said the situation with Flynn is “fluid”.

The resignation came after one top official had insisted Flynn had the “full confidence of the president”, while another official an hour later suggested his future was still undecided at that point.

Mr Flynn is a retired army general and former director of the Defence Intelligence Agency.

At first Mr. Flynn viemently denied discussing U.S. sanctions during the phone calls, yet now he is hedging his comments as USA intelligence apparently has verbatim transcripts of the conversations.

In a column written by John R. Schindler for The Observer, the security expert and former professor at the U.S. Naval War College claims that the NSA has stopped its decades-old practice of preparing special reports for U.S. presidents since Trump took office.

Coffman serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

He was sacked from his last job as Director of Defense Intelligence for his bullying tactics. And The Wall Street Journal said some White House officials would like to see him go himself.