ON POLITICS

Full text of Michael Flynn's resignation letter

Charles Ventura
USA TODAY
Retired general Michael Flynn arrives at Trump Tower on Nov. 17 in New York City.

President Trump's national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned on Monday, ending a brief stint in the position following reports he provided top White House officials — including Vice President — misleading information about his dealings with Russia's ambassador shortly after sanctions were announced in the final days of the Obama administration.

Last week, The Washington Post reported, citing nine unnamed intelligence sources, that Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak discussed the sanctions. Initially, Flynn said he did not discuss sanctions with Kislyak, a denial passed on to the public by White House press secretary Spicer and Pence, among others. In past weeks, Flynn has said the conversation was general in nature, including holiday greetings. Flynn later adjusted his story.

Flynn's resignation, first reported by CNN, came late Monday night. The full transcript of the letter can be read below:

February 13, 2017

In the course of my duties as the Incoming National Security Advisor, I held numerous phone calls with foreign counterparts, ministers, and ambassadors. These calls were to facilitate a smooth transition and begin to build the necessary relationships between the President, his advisors and foreign leaders. Such calls are standard practice in any transition of this magnitude.

Unfortunately, because of the fast pace of events, I inadvertently briefed the Vice President Elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian Ambassador. I have sincerely apologized to the president and the Vice President, and they have accepted my apology.

Throughout my over thirty three years of honorable military service, and my tenure as the National Security Advisor, I have always performed my duties with the utmost of integrity and honesty to those I have served, to include the President of the United States.

I am tendering my resignation, honored to have served our nation and the American people in such a distinguished way.

I am also extremely honored to have served President Trump, who in just three weeks, has reprinted American foreign policy in fundamental ways to restore America's leadership position in the world.

As I step away once again from serving my nation in this current capacity, I wish to thank President Trump for his personal loyalty, the friendship of those who I worked with throughout the hard fought campaign, the challenging period of transition, and during the early days of his presidency.

I know with the strong leadership of President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence and the superb team they are assembling, this team will go down in history as one of the greatest presidencies in U.S history, and I firmly believe the american people will be well served as they all work together to help Make America Great Again.

Michael T. Flynn, LTG (Ret)
Assistant to the President/ National Security Advisor

(H/T Time)