Former national security adviser Michael Flynn said he didn't talk about sanctions on Russia when he spoke with the country's U.S. ambassador late last year.

Flynn, who resigned Monday night, told The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group on Monday that the conversation did include talk of the 35 Russian diplomats who were expelled by then-President Obama in December, but not Obama's sanctions.

“It wasn’t about sanctions. It was about the 35 guys who were thrown out,” Flynn said.

“So that’s what it turned out to be. It was basically, ‘Look, I know this happened. We’ll review everything.’ I never said anything such as, ‘We’re going to review sanctions,’ or anything like that. “If I did, believe me, the FBI would be down my throat, my clearances would be pulled. There were no lines crossed.”

ADVERTISEMENT Flynn resigned after reports that he misled top White House officials about his calls with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, shortly after Obama sanctioned Moscow and expelled Russian diplomats in retaliation for Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Flynn blamed his resignation late Monday on the "fast pace of events" that led him to "inadvertently" give Vice President Pence and others "incomplete information" about his phone conversations with Russia's ambassador to the U.S.