Summary
- General Michael Flynn has resigned as Donald Trump’s national security adviser after weeks of speculation over his links to Russia turned into days of reporting on the contents of his calls with the Russian ambassador and a day of intense pressure over whether the president could continue to back his pick.
- The resignation came late at night, at around 11pm Washington DC, after further news reports revealed that the White House had been warned last month by then acting attorney general Sally Yates – before she was fired for advising justice department lawyers that the travel ban was “not lawful” – that Flynn was vulnerable to blackmail.
- Transcripts of intercepted calls between Flynn and Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyev, as described by US officials to various news outlets, showed the two had discussed sanctions ahead of Trump’s inauguration, when Flynn was part of the transition team but not in post as national security adviser.
- Sanctions had been imposed by then-President Barack Obama after US agencies concluded Moscow had interfered in the US election campaign.
- In his resignation letter, Flynn conceded that he had misled the vice-president Mike Pence, who had previously publicly denied that Flynn had discussed sanctions with Kislyev. Flynn wrote:
Unfortunately, because of the fast pace of events, I inadvertently briefed the vice-president-elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador.
I have sincerely apologized to the president and the vice president, and they have accepted my apology.
- Read the resignation letter in full here.
- Keith Kellogg has been appointed acting national security adviser. He – along with David Petraeus, who meets Trump at the White House on Tuesday, and Robert Harward – are in the running to succeed Flynn.
Read more
Updated
Kellogg aside, who else is in the running to succeed Flynn as national security adviser?
Courtesy of AP, here’s more on the men confirmed by White House sources as possible appointments:
David Petraeus
The most audacious choice would likely be former CIA director David Petraeus. Petraeus, a retired four-star general, was bounced from his position atop the intelligence agency in 2012 after he it was revealed that he passed on classified information to his biographer, who had also become his mistress.
But Trump during the campaign spoke sympathetically about Petraeus, despite his frequent criticisms of his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified materials. Petraeus was briefly under consideration to become secretary of state before Trump picked Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson.
Robert Harward
Robert Harward, a Navy Seal and retired vice-admiral, served as deputy commander of the United States central command when it was under the command of General James Mattis, who is now secretary of defense.
He served on the National Security Council for President George W Bush and commissioned the National Counter Terrorism Center.
Upon retirement in 2013 after a nearly 40-year career in the Navy, Harward took a post as a chief executive officer for defense and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin in the United Arab Emirates. Trump has recently been in very public negotiations with Lockheed over the cost of its F-35 fighter jet program.
Who is Keith Kellogg?
Kellogg, 72, named as Trump’s acting national security adviser, was born in Ohio and served 36 years in the military: in the army in Vietnam, as a special forces officer in Cambodia, and during the first Iraq war as chief of staff for the 82nd Airborne Division.
He rose to command the airborne division from 1997 to 1998 and later came to national prominence when he served as chief operating officer for Baghdad’s provisional government through 2004 – a year of mistakes by the transitional administration that haunted Iraq through the next decade of war.
After his retirement Kellogg joined a series of contracting firms including tech giant Oracle and defense contractor Cubic Defense.
The retired general has kept a low profile in the White House compared with his predecessor. He was granted a formal role in Trump’s transition team and later named chief of staff and executive secretary of the National Security Council, making him one military counterweight to an unusually prominent civilian on the council, Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon.
Updated
Twitter has been full of helpful suggestions that Flynn could now spend more time with his conspiracy theories – but Hillary Clinton has now joined their ranks.
Flynn notoriously tweeted a link to an entirely fake story that a DC pizzeria called Comet Ping Pong was linked to a child abuse ring involving the Clintons.
Philippe's got his own way of saying things, but he has a point about the real consequences of fake news... https://t.co/a02sXiaHfp
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 14, 2017
Dear Mike Flynn & Mike Flynn Jr.,
— Philippe Reines (@PhilippeReines) February 14, 2017
What goes around COMETS around.
And given your pizza obsession...https://t.co/rmyO7wyJKX
xo
Philippe
Summary
The US national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned late on Monday night amid a flow of intelligence leaks that he had secretly discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador to Washington and then tried to cover up the conversations.
The resignation, with the Trump era less than four weeks old, is the latest and most dramatic convulsion in the most chaotic start to an administration in modern US history.
It was far from clear whether Flynn’s departure would steady an inexperienced and feuding White House, or resolve the lingering suspicions about the Trump team’s pre-election contacts with the Kremlin.
The White House issued a statement just after 11pm in Washington announcing the resignation, shortly after reports broke that the Trump administration had been warned weeks ago that Flynn might be vulnerable to Russian blackmail.
The statement also named retired army general Joseph Keith Kellogg as acting national security adviser, pending the appointment of a permanent successor. It was reported that a third general, former CIA director David Petraeus, was due to meet Trump on Tuesday.
In his resignation letter, Flynn claimed he had mistakenly misled vice-president Mike Pence and other Trump officials about the nature of phone calls in December to the Russian ambassador, Sergei Kisilyak. When intelligence leaks about the communications began appearing last month, Pence and other White House officials insisted the contact had involved only an exchange of Christmas greetings and arrangements for a future phone conversation between Trump and Vladimir Putin.
However, subsequent leaks suggested that they had been more substantial, and concerned sanctions the Obama administration was about to impose on Moscow for interference in the presidential elections. Intelligence officials claimed that Flynn had given the impression the sanctions might be lifted once the Trump administration came to office on 20 January.
Republican Devin Nunes, chair of the House intelligence committee, is the first supportive voice I’ve so far seen for Flynn since news broke of his resignation:
Michael Flynn served in the US military for more than three decades. Washington DC can be a rough town for honorable people, and Flynn – who has always been a soldier, not a politician – deserves America’s gratitude and respect for dedicating so much of his life to strengthening our national security.
I thank him for his many years of distinguished service.
Flynn’s resignation letter doesn’t go into detail of his communications with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyev.
Transcripts of intercepted calls, though, as described by US officials to various news outlets, showed that the two had discussed sanctions – although not necessarily going so far as Flynn promising that Trump would lift them.
The conversations have been described as “potentially illegal” because of the 1799 Logan Act, which bans private citizens from negotiating with countries with which the US is in dispute. The calls were made before Trump’s inauguration, when Flynn was part of the transition team but not in post as national security adviser.
But many have said the wider issue is the extent of any collusion between Russia and the Trump administration. That issue remains unresolved by Flynn’s ousting.
As with the travel ban, Sally Yates – the former acting attorney general, fired from that role by Trump after she advised justice department lawyers that the executive order was “not lawful” – finds herself at the centre of this story.
As the Washington Post reports, Yates reported to the White House in January her concerns over Flynn’s potential susceptibility to blackmail due to his communications with Russia:
The acting attorney general informed the Trump White House late last month that she believed Michael Flynn had misled senior administration officials about the nature of his communications with the Russian ambassador to the United States, and warned that the national security adviser was potentially vulnerable to Russian blackmail, current and former U.S. officials said.
The message, delivered by Sally Q. Yates and a senior career national security official to the White House counsel, was prompted by concerns that Flynn, when asked about his calls and texts with the Russian diplomat, had told Vice President-elect Mike Pence and others that he had not discussed the Obama administration sanctions on Russia for its interference in the 2016 election, the officials said. It is unclear what the White House counsel, Donald McGahn, did with the information.
Just hours before his resignation, Flynn was in the front row as Trump held a joint press conference with Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau.
The US president took two questions from reporters – neither of which were about his then national security adviser – and ignored shouted queries from other journalists as he left the room.
As so often, it’s the attempted cover-up that can sting you.
Here’s Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia under Obama, on why the misleading of Pence by Flynn was what did for the latter:
It's not illegal & shouldnt be suspicious for Americans to talk to foreign diplomats. Its what Flynn said to VP that caused him trouble.
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) February 14, 2017
The future of Michael Flynn had looked uncertain since Friday, after reports that he had discussed US sanctions with the Russian ambassador to Washington before taking office, contrary to his earlier adamant denials.
The reports, based on leaks from current and former officials, also point to contacts between the former general and Russian officials going back to before the 8 November election – an election that the US intelligence agencies believe Russia tried to influence in Donald Trump’s favour.
Both the Washington Post and the New York Times reported that Flynn talked to the Russian ambassador, Sergei Kisilyak, about forthcoming sanctions from the Obama administration in response to Russian electoral meddling. The allegations led to calls from Democrats for Flynn to be dismissed while some prominent Republicans were tepid in their support.
When asked by reporters aboard Air Force One about the report, Trump replied: “I don’t know about that. I haven’t seen it. What report is that? I haven’t seen that. I’ll look into that.”
Flynn and the US vice-president, Mike Pence, had previously issued flat denials that Flynn and Kisilyak had spoken about anything of substance and the White House had insisted that the conversations involved only the exchange of Christmas greetings and preparations for a future Trump phone call with Vladimir Putin.
On Friday, Flynn’s staff at the national security council said he could no longer be sure whether sanctions had been discussed.
Questions about who knew what within the Trump administration – up to and including the president himself – will not disappear with Flynn’s retreating figure.
Eyebrows had already been raised by this tweet from Trump, after Russian president Vladimir Putin announced he would not retaliate after the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats by the Obama administration, following allegations of Moscow meddling in the US election:
Great move on delay (by V. Putin) - I always knew he was very smart!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 30, 2016
Now, given Flynn’s conversations with the Russian ambassador – and his confessed misleading of the then VP-elect – Trump and his team will be pressed on what they knew of his communications.
Whether they’ll answer is, of course, a different matter.
Updated
Democrat Adam Schiff, ranking member of the House permanent select committee on intelligence, said the resignation was inevitable and Flynn had been a “poor choice” for the role:
General Flynn’s decision to step down as national security adviser was all but ordained the day he misled the country about his secret talks with the Russian ambassador.
In fact, Flynn was always a poor choice for national security adviser, a role in which you need to be a consensus builder, and possess sobriety and steady judgment. It is certainly no role for someone who plays fast and loose with the truth.
But Flynn’s departure does not end questions over his contacts with the Russians, which have been alleged to have begun well before December 29. These alleged contacts and any others the Trump campaign may have had with the Kremlin are the subject of the House intelligence committee’s ongoing investigation.
Moreover, the Trump administration has yet to be forthcoming about who was aware of Flynn’s conversations with the ambassador and whether he was acting on the instructions of the president or any other officials, or with their knowledge.
Life moves pretty fast.
Here’s Kellyanne Conway, a key counsellor to Trump, declaring just a few hours ago that Flynn had the “full confidence” of the president.
Wow— here's the video of Conway saying Flynn has 'full confidence' of Trump. pic.twitter.com/gU4NsXgmKR
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 13, 2017
The late-night nature of the resignation suggests deliberations over Flynn’s departure were pummelled along by Monday’s steady stream of revelations, from the Washington Post, Associated Press and New York Times.
As AP reports:
Flynn was spotted near the Oval Office just after 10pm Monday.
Amid the uncertainty over Flynn’s future, several of the president’s top advisers, including chief of staff Reince Priebus and counsel Don McGahn, ducked in and out of late-night meetings in the West Wing.
Russia Today has a gentler spin on Flynn’s abrupt departure:
Deleted now, but @RT_America had an #alternativefact take on Flynn's resignation pic.twitter.com/vgl7DMSbx9
— Claire Phipps (@Claire_Phipps) February 14, 2017
Updated
Donald Trump’s administration was warned by the justice department of Michael Flynn’s communications with Russia, the Associated Press reported earlier on Monday.
Hours after the White House said the president was “evaluating” allegations that Flynn lied about secret communications with Russia and misled Vice-president Mike Pence – but before his dramatic late-nigth resignation – sources familiar with the situation told the Associated Press that the Trump administration was aware of the justice department’s warning that Flynn might be vulnerable to Russian blackmail “for weeks”.
The Washington Post first reported on the DoJ’s warning, which came in late December from then acting attorney general Sally Yates.
Yates was fired by Trump last month after she refused to defend his travel ban against refugees and residents of seven Muslim-majority countries. According to the Post, Yates’ concerns that Flynn lied about the nature of his communications with Russia were shared by James Clapper, the outgoing director of national intelligence, and John Brennan, then the director of the CIA.
Updated
Flynn lasted less than a month in his role – the shortest holder of that office ever, it seems (and by some margin):
Flynn's tenure as national security advisor shortest ever. Previous record held be Reagan's first NSA, Richard V. Allen, who served 348 days
— Ivo Daalder (@IvoHDaalder) February 14, 2017
Updated
Three names are being bandied around as possible successors to Flynn, including Keith Kellogg (now in place as acting national security adviser), David Petraeus and Bob Harward.
Reports earlier said Petraeus was due to meet Trump at the White House on Tuesday. The retired general resigned as head of the CIA in 2012 for passing classified information to a lover.
Flynn's resignation letter: full text
February 13, 2017
In the course of my duties as the incoming National Security Advisor, I held numerous phone calls with foreign counterparts, ministers, and ambassadors. These calls were to facilitate a smooth transition and begin to build the necessary relationships between the President, his advisors and foreign leaders. Such calls are standard practice in any transition of this magnitude.
Unfortunately, because of the fast pace of events, I inadvertently briefed the Vice President Elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian Ambassador. I have sincerely apologized to the President and the Vice President, and they have accepted my apology.
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.
I am tendering my resignation, honored to have served our nation and the American people in such a distinguished way.
I am also extremely honored to have served President Trump, who in just three weeks, has reoriented American foreign policy in fundamental ways to restore America’s leadership position in the world.
As I step away once again from serving my nation in this current capacity, I wish to thank President Trump for his personal loyalty, the friendship of those who I worked with throughout the hard fought campaign, the challenging period of transition, and during the early days of his presidency.
I know with the strong leadership of President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence and the superb team they are assembling, this team will go down in history as one of the greatest presidencies in U.S. history, and I firmly believe the American people will be well served as they all work together to help Make America Great Again.
Michael T. Flynn, LTG (Ret)
Assistant to the President / National Security Advisor
White House statement
An emailed statement from the White House leads on news that Keith Kellogg is new acting national security adviser, relegating the key news headline that Flynn is gone to second mention.
It reads:
President Donald J. Trump Names Lt. General Joseph Keith Kellogg, Jr. as Acting National Security Advisor
Accepts Resignation of Lt. General Michael Flynn
President Donald J. Trump has named Lt. General Joseph Keith Kellogg, Jr. (Ret) as Acting National Security Advisor following the resignation of Lt. General Michael Flynn (Ret).
General Kellogg is a decorated veteran of the United States Army, having served from 1967 to 2003, including two tours during the Vietnam War, where he earned the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with “V” device, and the Air Medal with “V” device. He served as the Commander of the 82nd Airborne Division from 1997 to 1998.
Prior to his retirement, General Kellogg was Director of the Command, Control, Communications, and Computers Directorate under the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Keith Kellogg becomes the acting head of the national security council.
Initial reports about the communications between Flynn and Kislyak had been roundly denounced by Flynn, with vice-president Mike Pence defending him in front of the media.
On 15 January, Pence told CBS News of a call between Flynn and the Russian ambassador:
They did not discuss anything having to do with the United States’ decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia.
But last week a report in the Washington Post, citing nine unnamed current and former US officials, said Flynn did indeed discuss the “potentially illegal” topic with the Russian ambassador.
In recent days, Pence was reported to have been troubled by the possibility he had been misled by Flynn.
Earlier on Monday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer appeared to confirm that Flynn had apologised to Pence:
Q. So Mike Flynn did apologize to VP for telling him sanctions weren't discussed w Russian ambassador?@PressSec: "That's my understanding."
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) February 13, 2017
Flynn resignation letter
Here is the full text of Flynn’s resignation letter in which he admits he
inadvertently briefed the vice-president-elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador.
Breaking: text of Flynn's resignation letter pic.twitter.com/KGue1cJFzL
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) February 14, 2017
The Trump administration has its first high-profile departure: General Michael Flynn, national security adviser, has left his post after reports that he did – despite denials – discuss the lifting of US sanctions with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition.
CNN reported two sources had confirmed his resignation and cited his resignation letter:
Breaking: Two sources tell CNN Michael Flynn has resigned
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) February 14, 2017
Bloomberg also reported his departure:
BREAKING: Mike Flynn has RESIGNED his post as national security adviser, White House sources tell me.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) February 14, 2017
We’ll have the latest on Flynn’s resignation and the fallout live here.
