Incoming National Security Advisor Flynn Discusses Sanctions on Russia with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak

¶Shortly after the election, President-Elect Trump announced he would appoint Michael Flynn as his National Security Advisor.⁷⁸⁷⁸ Flynn 11/16/17 302, at 7; President-Elect Donald J. Trump Selects U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions for Attorney General, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, President-Elect Donald J. Trump Press Release (Nov. 18, 2016); see also, e.g., Bryan Bender, Trump names Mike Flynn national security adviser, Politico, (Nov. 17, 2016).Show full note For the next two months, Flynn played an active role on the Presidential Transition Team (PTT) coordinating policy positions and communicating with foreign government officials, including Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak.⁷⁹⁷⁹ Flynn 11/16/17 302, at 8-14; Priebus 10/13/17 302, at 3-5.

¶On December 29, 2016, as noted in Volume II, Section II.A.4, supra, the Obama Administration announced that it was imposing sanctions and other measures on several Russian individuals and entities.⁸⁰⁸⁰ Statement by the President on Actions in Response to Russian Malicious Cyber Activity and Harassment, The White House, Office of the Press Secretary (Dec. 29, 2016). That day, multiple members of the PTT exchanged emails about the sanctions and the impact they would have on the incoming Administration, and Flynn informed members of the PTT that he would be speaking to the Russian Ambassador later in the day.⁸¹⁸¹ 12/29/16 Email, O'Brien to McFarland et al.; 12/29/16 Email, Bossert to Flynn et al.; 12/29/16 Email, McFarland to Flynn et al.; SF000001 (12/29/16 Text Message, Flynn to Flaherty) ("Tit for tat w Russia not good. Russian AMBO reaching out to me today."); Flynn 1/19/18 302, at 2. Flynn, who was in the Dominican Republic at the time, and K.T. McFarland, who was slated to become the Deputy National Security Advisor and was at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida with the President-Elect and other senior staff, talked by phone about what, if anything, Flynn should communicate to Kislyak about the sanctions.⁸²⁸² Statement of Offense at 2-3, United States v. Michael T. Flynn, 1:17-cr-232 (D.D.C. Dec. 1, 2017), Doc. 4 (Flynn Statement of Offense); Flynn 11/17/17 302, at 3-4; Flynn 11/20/17 302, at 3; McFarland 12/22/17 302, at 6-7. McFarland had spoken with incoming Administration officials about the sanctions and Russia's possible responses and thought she had mentioned in those conversations that Flynn was scheduled to speak with Kislyak.⁸³⁸³ McFarland 12/22/17 302, at 4-7 (recalling discussions about this issue with Bannon and Priebus). Based on those conversations, McFarland informed Flynn that incoming Administration officials at Mar-a- Lago did not want Russia to escalate the situation.⁸⁴⁸⁴ Flynn Statement of Offense, at 3; Flynn 11/17/17 302, at 3-4; McFarland 12/22/17 302, at 6-7. At 4:43 p.m. that afternoon, McFarland sent an email to several officials about the sanctions and informed the group that "Gen [F]lynn is talking to russian ambassador this evening."⁸⁵⁸⁵ 12/29/16 Email, McFarland to Flynn et al.

¶Approximately one hour later, McFarland met with the President-Elect and senior officials and briefed them on the sanctions and Russia's possible responses.⁸⁶⁸⁶ McFarland 12/22/17 302, at 7. Incoming Chief of Staff Reince Priebus recalled that McFarland may have mentioned at the meeting that the sanctions situation could be "cooled down" and not escalated.⁸⁷⁸⁷ Priebus 1/18/18 302, at 3. McFarland recalled that at the end of the meeting, someone may have mentioned to the President-Elect that Flynn was speaking to the Russian Ambassador that evening.⁸⁸⁸⁸ McFarland 12/22/17 302, at 7. Priebus thought it was possible that McFarland had mentioned Flynn's scheduled call with Kislyak at this meeting, although he was not certain. Priebus 1/18/18 302, at 3. McFarland did not recall any response by the President- Elect.⁸⁹⁸⁹ McFarland 12/22/17 302, at 7. Priebus recalled that the President-Elect viewed the sanctions as an attempt by the Obama Administration to embarrass him by delegitimizing his election.⁹⁰⁹⁰ Priebus 1/18/18 302, at 3.

¶Immediately after discussing the sanctions with McFarland on December 29, 2016, Flynn called Kislyak and requested that Russia respond to the sanctions only in a reciprocal manner, without escalating the situation.⁹¹⁹¹ Flynn Statement of Offense, at 3; Flynn 11/17/17 302, at 3-4. After the call, Flynn briefed McFarland on its substance.⁹²⁹² Flynn Statement of Offense, at 3; McFarland 12/22/17 302, at 7-8; Flynn 11/17/17 302, at 4. Flynn told McFarland that the Russian response to the sanctions was not going to be escalatory because Russia wanted a good relationship with the Trump Administration.⁹³⁹³ McFarland 12/22/17 302, at 8. On December 30, 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would not take retaliatory measures in response to the sanctions at that time and would instead "plan . . . further steps to restore Russian- US relations based on the policies of the Trump Administration."⁹⁴⁹⁴ Statement by the President of Russia, President of Russia (Dec. 30, 2016) 12/30/16. Following that announcement, the President-Elect tweeted, "Great move on delay (by V. Putin) - I always knew he was very smart!"⁹⁵⁹⁵ @realDonaldTrump 12/30/16 (2:41 p.m. ET) Tweet.

¶On December 31, 2016, Kislyak called Flynn and told him that Flynn's request had been received at the highest levels and Russia had chosen not to retaliate in response to the request.⁹⁶⁹⁶ Flynn 1/19/18 302, at 3; Flynn Statement of Offense, at 3. Later that day, Flynn told McFarland about this follow-up conversation with Kislyak and Russia's decision not to escalate the sanctions situation based on Flynn's request.⁹⁷⁹⁷ Flynn 1/19/18 302, at 3; Flynn 11/17/17 302, at 6; McFarland 12/22/17 302, at 10; Flynn Statement of Offense, at 3. McFarland recalled that Flynn thought his phone call had made a difference.⁹⁸⁹⁸ McFarland 12/22/17 302, at 10; see Flynn 1/19/18 302, at 4. Flynn spoke with other incoming Administration officials that day, but does not recall whether they discussed the sanctions.⁹⁹⁹⁹ Flynn 11/17/17 302, at 5-6.

¶Flynn recalled discussing the sanctions issue with incoming Administration official Stephen Bannon the next day.¹⁰⁰¹⁰⁰ Flynn 1/19/18 302, at 4-5. Bannon recalled meeting with Flynn that day, but said he did not remember discussing sanctions with him. Bannon 2/12/18 302, at 9. Flynn said that Bannon appeared to know about Flynn's conversations with Kislyak, and he and Bannon agreed that they had "stopped the train on Russia's response" to the sanctions.¹⁰¹¹⁰¹ Flynn 11/21/17 302, at 1; Flynn 1/19/18 302, at 5. On January 3, 2017, Flynn saw the President-Elect in person and thought they discussed the Russian reaction to the sanctions, but Flynn did not have a specific recollection of telling the President-Elect about the substance of his calls with Kislyak.¹⁰²¹⁰² Flynn 1/19/18 302, at 6; Flynn 11/17/17 302, at 6.

¶Members of the intelligence community were surprised by Russia's decision not to retaliate in response to the sanctions.¹⁰³¹⁰³ McCord 7/17/17 302, at 2. When analyzing Russia's response, they became aware of Flynn's discussion of sanctions with Kislyak.¹⁰⁴¹⁰⁴ McCord 7/17/17 302, at 2. Previously, the FBI had opened an investigation of Flynn based on his relationship with the Russian government.¹⁰⁵¹⁰⁵ McCord 7/17/17 302, at 2-3; Comey 11/15/17 302, at 5. Flynn's contacts with Kislyak became a key component of that investigation.¹⁰⁶¹⁰⁶ McCord 7/17/17 302, at 2-3.