Newly declassified transcripts confirm that Michael Flynn, who became President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser, discussed U.S. sanctions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak before Trump’s inauguration.
The transcripts from late 2016 and early 2017 that were released Friday by Republican senators show Flynn urged Kislyak to keep the temperature down between the two countries and to limit Russia’s response to measures that President Barack Obama took in December 2016 because of Russian cyberattacks.
The release reflected a new push by Trump and Republicans to dismiss the episode as of little consequence even though incoming administrations have traditionally refrained from interfering in foreign policy — and even though Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI by denying he’d discussed sanctions with the ambassador.