President Donald Trump's former national security adviser has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.
Michael Flynn was charged with “willfully and knowingly” making “false, fictitious and fraudulent statements” regarding his meeting with the Russian ambassador to the US, according to court documents. In his plea, Mr Flynn suggested that it was "senior" Trump campaign official that helped direct his communications with the ambassador.
Mr Flynn is the first former Trump administration official to be charged in relation to special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Three former Trump campaign aides have been charged, and one has pleaded guilty.
Previous reports have claimed Mr Flynn spoke with the then-Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, shortly after then-President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Russia. in December 2016
The charging document states that Mr Flynn made a false statement to the FBI when he stated that he did not ask Mr Kislyak “to refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions that the United States had imposed against Russia that same day; and Mr Flynn did not recall the Russian ambassador subsequently telling him that Russia had chosen to moderate its response to those sanctions as a result of his request.”
Mr Flynn is the first Trump administration official and the fourth connected to the campaign to be charged as part of Mueller's investigation
Mr Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy Rick Gates were indicted last month on financial crime charges; they pleaded not guilty. And Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty for making a false statement to the FBI over contacts with officials connected to the Russian government.
