2/10/2017

CABINET/MICHAEL FLYNN/NATIONAL SECURITY/RUSSIA: “White House National Security Adviser Mike Flynn discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country’s ambassador to the U.S. before President Donald Trump took office, current and former American officials said, citing transcripts of intercepted communications that contradict his repeated assurances that the subject hadn’t come up in a series of phone conversations last December.
Mr. Flynn at that point had no official government position, and the conversations are an issue because if he had promised an easing of sanctions once Mr. Trump took office, he could have violated a law that prohibits private citizens from engaging in foreign policy, according to legal experts. There is no indication in the transcripts of the intercepts cited by the current and former officials that he made such promises, they said.”

 – Shane Harris, “Mike Flynn Discussed Sanctions With Russian Ambassador,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 10, 2017