The Times also reported Tuesday that current and former American officials said other Trump associates
and campaign officials had had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election.
Justice told the White House that, contrary to his claims, Mr. Flynn had discussed American sanctions against Russia with the ambassador.
The discrepancy between what Mr. Flynn had said publicly
and what the Russians (and American intelligence officials) knew made Mr. Flynn vulnerable to Russian blackmail.
On Tuesday, the White House admitted that Mr. Trump was told more than two weeks ago about Mr. Flynn’s deception,
even though the president told reporters on Friday that he was unaware of a news report to that effect.
After Mr. Trump’s inauguration, Mr. Spicer said on Jan. 23 that Mr. Flynn again assured him that sanctions had not been discussed.
President Trump may have thought the departure of his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, would end the
controversy over his administration’s involvement with Russia, but the damning revelations keep coming.
The White House spokesman, Sean Spicer, gave a similar answer on Jan. 13, as did Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 15.
In his resignation letter, Mr. Flynn said he had given senior officials “incomplete information” about the phone call.
agents interviewed Mr. Flynn days after the inauguration on that same subject, The Times reported on Tuesday.
When word of the Flynn-Kislyak call leaked on Jan. 12, a Trump official denied that sanctions were discussed.