Plenty of unanswered questions about Michael Flynn's contacts with Russia

WASHINGTON — Michael Flynn's resignation Monday as President Trump's national security adviser answered the question about his future in the White House.

But such a high-profile resignation just 24 days into the new administration is unlikely to be the end of the story. After all, Flynn's conversations with the Russian government go to the heart of a controversy that has dogged Trump since the campaign: whether Trump is too close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who intelligence agencies suspect of interfering in the 2016 presidential election.

Flynn resigned after he lost the president's confidence for misleading Vice President Pence about his contacts with Russia. Pence had denied that Flynn had discussed U.S. sanctions with the Russian ambassador on Dec. 29. The Justice Department, which is responsible for counterintelligence, told the White House last month that Flynn did discuss the issue.

Ever since Sen. Howard Baker asked the question in a Watergate hearing, the central question in any Washington scandal is, "What did the president know and when did he know it?"

White House press secretary Sean Spicer answered those questions Tuesday. Did the president-elect ask Flynn to talk to Russia about sanctions? "Absolutely not," Spicer said. When did the Justice Department notify the White House that it knew Flynn had lied? "January 26," he said.

But as with many such Washington stories, every answered question leads to new unanswered ones. Here are some:

What did Flynn tell the Russian ambassador?

Flynn's conversation with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak came the same day the Obama administration announced a new round of sanctions against Russia for its computer hacking during the 2016 presidential election. It's unclear whether Flynn would have been privy to non-public information about those sanctions, or whether he made any promises about what the Trump policy would be.

At the same time, the Obama administration also expelled Russian agents from the United States — a move that Russia conspicuously failed to respond to. In his CBS interview. Pence ruled out any discussion about that subject as well: “They did not discuss anything having to do with the United States’ decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia." Did Flynn discuss that issue?

At Tuesday's briefing, Spicer was asked if the White House would declassify and release transcripts of those calls. "It is inappropriate for me to comment on those at this time."

What are Flynn's connections to Russia?

As a retired Army general in 2015, Flynn traveled to Moscow to speak at the 10th anniversary gala for Russia Today in an event also attended by Putin. Flynn has acknowledged he was paid for the visit, which — if not approved by the secretaries of Defense and State — would violate federal law. He has not said how much he was paid or whether it was approved.

Russia Today was identified in an intelligence assessment as one of the Kremlin's top purveyors of propaganda and misinformation in the 2016 presidential election, leading to a heightened sensitivity over Flynn's participation in the event, which Flynn said was arranged by a speaker's bureau. House Democrats have called for an investigation into those connections.

Was anyone else involved?

"Was Gen. Flynn directed or authorized to do what he did?" asked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Tuesday. "Who else from the Trump administration, transition or campaign had contact with the Russians?"

And it's not just Democrats asking those questions. "I'd like to know, did he just do this as a rogue? Gen. Flynn just decided to call the Russians up one day and say we're gonna have a different view on sanctions, don't worry about it? Or did it come from somebody else in the White House?" Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told NBC News.

Where was the Justice Department?

At the White House briefing Tuesday, Spicer had his own questions: "I think the first question should be, where was the Department of Justice in this?" he said. "We were making statements based on what Gen. Flynn was telling us starting on Jan. 13. The vice president went out on the 15th, right? They didn't notify the White House Counsel's office until Jan. 26."

At the time, the acting attorney general was Sally Yates, an Obama administration holdover who was fired Jan. 30 for refusing to defend a Trump executive order instituting a travel ban from seven majority-Muslim countries.

Why are there so many leaks?

The Flynn saga was brought to a head by two stories in the Washington Post: One last week that reported that nine current and former intelligence officials had refuted Flynn's denials that he had discussed sanctions with Russia, and another on Monday about on the Justice Department concerns about Flynn's phone calls.

To Trump, those are the biggest questions.

"The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington? Will these leaks be happening as I deal on N.Korea etc?" he tweeted Tuesday.

But as with many such Washington stories, every answered question leads to new unanswered ones.

Read more:

Aide: President Trump lost trust in Michael Flynn and asked him to quit

GOP leaders offer no new investigation of Flynn, will rely on ongoing Russia probes

Who will replace Flynn? Robert Harward, Keith Kellogg, David Petraeus top the list