Allegations of uncomfortably close relations with Russia have been brewing for some time, a closer look to the surprising sequence of events reveals

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The Trump administration has been dogged by allegations of being too close to Russia from day one of the presidency – or in fact, long before that.

Here we take a look at the key developments in the ongoing scandal, from the US presidential election to the present day:

8 November 2016: Donald Trump is elected as the 45th US president.



10 November 2016: Barack Obama warns Trump against appointing Michael Flynn to a top national security post during their first meeting after the election. Obama had removed Flynn as the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014.

9 December 2016: The Washington Post reports that the CIA concluded Russia had intervened in the election to help Trump win.

13 December 2016: Trump nominates Rex Tillerson, chairman of ExxonMobil and recipient of Russia’s Order of Friendship medal from Vladimir Putin in 2013, to be secretary of state.

29 December 2016: Obama announces sanctions against Russia for its interference in the 2016 election. On the same day, the national security adviser-designate Flynn places five phone calls to the Russian ambassador.



6 January 2017: The CIA, FBI and NSA release their declassified report, concluding “Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election.” The intelligence agencies agree “the Russian government aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible.”



19 January 2017: Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, along with advisers Roger Stone and Carter Page, are under investigation in connection with possible links to Russia, the New York Times reports.



20 January 2017: Trump is inaugurated.

22 January 2017: Flynn is sworn in as national security adviser.

23 January 2017: At his first press briefing, Sean Spicer, the new White House press secretary, says that none of Flynn’s conversations with the Russian ambassador touched on sanctions. The FBI interviews Flynn shortly after.

24 January 2017: The Washington Post reports Flynn denied to FBI agents that he had discussed US sanctions in his calls with the Russian ambassador.

Lawyers who said Trump has no ties to Russia named Russian law firm of 2016 Read more

26 January: Acting attorney general Sally Yates tells White House counsel Don McGahn that Flynn had made misleading statements and lied to vice-president Mike Pence about his late December conversations with the Russian ambassador.

27 January 2017: Trump asks FBI director James Comey for a pledge of personal loyalty during a private dinner.

30 January 2017: Trump fires acting attorney general Sally Yates.

8 January 2017: Jeff Sessions becomes attorney general. During the confirmation hearing, Sessions says he was “not aware of a basis to recuse” himself from the justice department’s Russia-related investigations of Trump.

13 February 2017: Flynn resigns after the Washington Post reports that Yates had warned the White House in late January that Flynn had misled them about his December conversation with the Russian ambassador.

14 February 2017: Trump reportedly asks FBI director Comey to halt the investigation into Flynn during a private Oval Office meeting. According to Comey’s memo, Trump said: “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”

1 March 2017: It emerges that Jeff Sessions had met the Russian ambassador before the election.

2 March 2017: Sessions recuses himself “from any existing or future investigations of any matters related in any way to the campaigns for President of the United States”.



10 March 2017: Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone admits that in August 2016 he messaged a figure known as Guccifer 2.0, whom US intelligence agencies later identified as the person behind the Russian hacking during the election campaign.

20 March 2017: Comey testifies that the FBI was investigating Russian interference in the election, including “the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts”.

Trump faces new revelations as Comey prepares to testify Read more

30 March 2017: Flynn is seeking immunity from prosecution in return for testifying before congressional intelligence committees, it is reported. His counsel says: “General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should circumstances permit.”

9 May 2017: Trump fires FBI director Comey.



10 May 2017: Trump allegedly shares highly classified intelligence about Islamic State and American counter-terrorism plans with Russian officials at an Oval Office meeting.

11 May 2017: Trump’s dinner with Comey in January, during which Trump asked Comey for a personal loyalty pledge, is revealed by the New York Times.

12 May 2017: Trump tweets:

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!

Later, Spicer refuses to answer whether Trump had been taping Oval Office conversations.

15 May 2017: Spicer repeatedly continues to refuse – seven times – to answer whether Trump is secretly recording his conversations.

19 May 2017: The New York Times, quoting a US official, reports that Trump told Russian officials in the Oval Office that firing Comey had relieved “great pressure” on him, as he labelled the former FBI chief a “real nut job”.

On the same day, the Washington Post reports that sources familiar with the FBI investigation say an active member of the Trump White House is a “person of interest”.

It is confirmed Comey will give public evidence at the US Senate intelligence committee inquiry at some point after the US Memorial Day on 29 May.

20 May 2017: Former Trump adviser, Michael Caputo, is asked to testify before the House intelligence committee over accusations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

22 May 2017: It is reported that Trump put pressure on the director of national intelligence and the head of the NSA to deny that there was evidence of collusion between his campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 election (they reportedly refused).

23 May 2017: Ex-CIA chief John Brennan reveals that there had been enough contacts between members of the Trump campaign and Moscow by last summer to justify further investigation by the FBI. The Senate intelligence committee says it would again subpoena Flynn over his contacts with Russia.

24 May 2017: The New York Times reports that US spies collected information last summer revealing that Russian officials were discussing how to use Trump’s advisers to exert influence over him. CNN reveals that attorney general Jeff Sessions had not disclosed his meetings with Russian officials during his security clearance. (He also failed to mention them during his Senate confirmation hearings.) The House intelligence committee says it will join its Senate counterpart in subpoenaing Flynn.

25 May 2017: Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, says he will cooperate with any investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia following reports that he is under FBI scrutiny.

26 May 2017: The Washington Post reports that Kushner discussed setting up a secret back channel for conversations between the Trump transition team and the Kremlin.

30 May 2017: Trump’s longtime attorney, Michael Cohen, rejects a request for documents from the House intelligence committee, as reports claim that former national security adviser Flynn is reportedly now prepared to provide documents to the committee’s Senate counterpart.

31 May 2017: Spicer says the White House will no longer answer questions about the investigations into Trump’s alleged links to Russia – instead referring them to Trump’s personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz.

1 June 2017: The Guardian learns that Brexit leader Nigel Farage is a “person of interest” in the US counter-intelligence investigation looking into possible collusion between the Kremlin and Trump’s presidential campaign. In other Russia news, the Senate intelligence committee announces that Comey will give evidence in public and in private on 8 June.

James Comey’s testimony

2 June 2017: It is reported that special counsel Robert Mueller has expanded his investigation into Trump and Russia to take in Flynn’s foreign lobbying.

4 June 2017: In an interview with NBC News, Putin denies he has any compromising material about Trump.

7 June 2017: Former US director of national intelligence James Clapper says events in Washington now are more serious than the Watergate scandal of the 1970s. Trump reveals he plans to nominate Christopher Wray to be the next director of the FBI. And Comey publicly reveals how Trump put pressure on him to shut down an investigation into Flynn and Russia, in a written statement released ahead of his appearance at the Senate intelligence committee.