Michael Flynn’s days in the White House may be numbered

On Tuesday, a White House spokesman said Mr Trump knew weeks ago there were problems with the Russian Federation phone calls.

Russia’s visibly muted reaction to Flynn’s departure comes one day before Tillerson is holding his first meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Mike Flynn arrives for a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Feb. 13, 2017.

US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned on Monday, admitting that he gave senior officials of the Donald Trump administration an “incomplete” account of his dealings with the Russian ambassador to the US. It’s more challenging than simply cherry-picking damaging disclosures about Hillary Clinton from Wikileaks (which Obama warned were provided by hackers with ties to the Russian government, shortly before he left office), which had been the media’s obsession throughout much of 2016.

We have just learned that Trump actually knew about his national security advisor’s sanctions discussions with Kislyak at least by late January.

Gen Flynn has apologised for giving Mr Pence and others “incomplete information” about the call, which happened on 29 December – the same day President Obama announced new sanctions on Russian Federation.

The US Office of Government Ethics called on the White House to investigate adviser Kellyanne Conway for plugging Ivanka Trump products on television.

In a string of tweets last night, Mr Trump pointed the finger at the intelligence community for “illegally” leaking classified information to the media, calling it “un-American”, while trying to distance himself from the brouhaha. “Will these leaks be happening as I deal on N Korea etc?”

Herbst said Trump’s conciliatory comments about Russian Federation are out of character for a businessman who prides himself as a tough negotiator.

National Security Adviser Michael Flynn stands by the elevators at Trump Tower.

Throughout my over thirty three years of honorable military service, and my tenure as the National Security Advisor, I have always performed my duties with the utmost of integrity and honesty to those I have served, to include the President of the United States.

The Kremlin on Friday denied reports Kislyak and Flynn discussed sanctions prior to the inauguration, the state news agency Tass reported.

He also charged that the way the Flynn information was obtained violated the law. They reportedly came away thinking Flynn had not been fully forthcoming. But here’s the rub: USA intelligence monitors ambassadors’ calls, and the Justice Department thought Flynn’s comments might violate the Logan Act, which prohibits private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments.

“These reports raise grave concerns about the honesty and integrity of White House officials with the public”, said the House members in their letter.

Democrats and some Republicans have called for a full-scale probe in the wake of Flynn’s resignation, demanding to know what Trump knew, and when, about Flynn’s pre-inauguration conversations with a Russian ambassador about U.S. sanctions. But more than any other story so far, Mr Flynn’s saga tells us some important things. “This is not our business”. The search turned up Kislyak’s communications, which the Federal Bureau of Investigation routinely monitors, and the phone call in question with Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general with years of intelligence experience.

One Republican, however, says that lawmakers should establish a “joint select committee”- consisting of members from both the House and the Senate – to examine the allegations in the Times report, if they are correct.

Was Flynn so assertive that he made those calls to the Russian ambassador on his own, or did he fall on his sword?

Dozens of condominiums in Trump World Tower in midtown Manhattan were bought by Russians in the late 1990s, said Dolly Lenz, a real estate broker who sold numerous units.

Flynn urged Russian Federation not to overreact to the sanctions, indicating the measures could be revisited after Trump was sworn in.