Timeline of events leading up to Michael Flynn’s resignation

Less than a month in to the new administration, President Trump’s national security adviser, Gen. Michael Flynn, has resigned after reports that he misled his White House colleagues, including Vice President Mike Pence, about conversations he’d had with Russia’s ambassador to Washington.

In those conversations, Flynn discussed sanctions that the Obama administration had imposed on Russia to punish Moscow for its interference in the U.S. election. Those conversations could have violated the Logan Act, which prevents unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments in relation to “disputes or controversies.” The law, however, which was enacted in the 1790s, has never been used to prosecute anyone.

Here’s the timeline of events leading up to Flynn’s resignation:

• Nov. 18: Trump names Flynn as his choice for national security adviser. The decision was controversial from the start. Flynn had attended a lavish dinner in Moscow in 2015 at which he sat next to President Vladimir Putin and also received a speaking fee from a Russian television network that U.S. officials consider a propaganda outlet.
• Dec. 6: Trump’s transition team cuts ties with Flynn’s son, who had spread false stories on Twitter.
• Dec. 29: The Obama administration imposes sanctions on Russia in retaliation for Russia’s hacking of the Democratic National Committee earlier in the summer. Flynn contacts Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak several times that day and the day before, including more than one telephone call.
• Dec. 30: Putin says he will not retaliate against the U.S. sanctions, surprising the Obama administration. Trump praises Putin.
• Early January: Intelligence officials, looking for clues to why Putin decided not to retaliate, discover Flynn’s conversations with Kislyak, whose communications the U.S. government routinely monitors.
• Jan. 11: At a news conference, Trump denies that he has ties with Russia.
• Jan. 12: Washington Post columnist David Ignatius first reports on Flynn’s contacts with Kislyak.
• Jan. 13: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denies that Flynn and Kislyak discussed sanctions.
• Jan. 15: Vice President Mike Pence, in a television interview, denies that Flynn discussed sanctions.
• Jan. 20: Trump is inaugurated.
• Jan. 22: Flynn is sworn in as national security adviser.
• Jan. 26: Acting Atty. Gen. Sally Yates tells White House officials that Flynn and Kislyak had discussed the sanctions and that Flynn, having misled Pence and others, might be subject to Russian blackmail.
• Feb. 8: Flynn, responding to questions from the Washington Post, once again flatly denies any discussions with Kislyak about sanctions.
• Feb. 9: A spokesperson for Flynn retracts that denial, saying he does not remember talking about the sanctions, but “can’t be 100% sure.”
• Feb. 10: Trump, asked by reporters on Air Force One, says he is not familiar with the Post report.
• Feb 10: White House officials say Flynn has called Pence to apologize for misleading him.
• Feb. 12 : White House official Stephen Miller, dispatched by the administration to appear on several Sunday TV interview programs,declines to say if Trump has confidence in Flynn.
• Feb. 13, about 4 p.m. EST: Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway says Flynn has Trump’s full confidence.
• Feb. 13, about 5 p.m. EST: Spicer says Trump is “evaluating the situation.”
• Feb. 13, about 9:30 p.m. EST: The Post and the New York Times disclose that Yates had warned the White House about Flynn’s conversations.
• Feb. 13, 11 p.m. EST: White House announces Flynn’s resignation. Officials say he chose to step down.
• Feb. 14: Spicer says the White House has been investigating Flynn’s conduct for more than two weeks and that he had been fired because of an “eroding level of trust.”