Timeline of Flynn’s resignation is troubling for White House

WASHINGTON • Perhaps the most striking thing about Michael Flynn’s resignation as national security adviser is that it didn’t come sooner.

As The Washington Post reported late Monday, just hours before Flynn resigned, the White House was told weeks ago that Flynn had apparently misled it about his talks with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.

Yet the situation didn’t come to a head until the public disclosures last week of Flynn’s faulty recollection of the call — and specifically, the fact that it included talk about sanctions, which Flynn and Vice-President Mike Pence had both denied.

Was the White House concerned that Flynn had apparently lied to them — or at least done something he shouldn’t have and failed to disclose it? Would it ever have taken corrective action if it hadn’t been made public?

A timeline: Late December: Flynn, a former lieutenant-general who had been selected as Trump’s national security adviser, holds a phone call with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak. Despite Flynn’s later denials, the two of them discuss new U.S. sanctions against Russia or the expulsion of diplomats and the possibility of relieving the sanctions once Trump is president.

Jan. 13: For the first time, Flynn’s talks with the Russian ambassador are reported. Jan. 14: Flynn assures Pence, who was then the vice president-elect, that the two of them didn’t discuss sanctions, according to Pence.

Late January: Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who would later be relieved of her duties by Trump because she declined to defend his travel ban, informs the White House counsel of Flynn’s misleading statements and warns that they were so egregious that he could open himself up to Russian blackmail. The White House does not amend its false statements.

Feb. 9: The Post reports that Flynn did discuss sanctions with the Russian ambassador. Flynn initially denies this to The Post. Then a spokesperson says Flynn “indicated that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up.”

Feb. 10: Trump says in brief comments aboard Air Force One that he is unaware of the reports but that he will

“look into” it.

Monday late afternoon: The Post reports that the Justice Department had told the White House last month “that Flynn had so mischaracterized his communications with the Russian diplomat that he might be vulnerable to blackmail by Moscow.” Shortly before 11 p.m. Monday: Flynn resigns.

A FEW QUESTIONS:

Was the administration planning to take any action based off the Justice Department’s late-January news of Flynn having misled them?

Trump professes ignorance about Flynn having misled his administration as recently as Feb. 10. Did the White House counsel not inform the president about what the Justice Department had told them?

Does the White House accept Flynn’s contention that he simply forgot about discussing sanctions? Russian sanctions were one of the biggest stories in U.S. foreign policy at the time.

Even if Flynn did truly forget, would it be OK that he discussed something he wasn’t supposed to during the phone call?