US President Donald Trump insisted there was "absolutely no collusion" between his election campaign and Russia, in comments to media on Saturday.

"What has been shown is no collusion, no collusion," Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for fundraising events in New York. "There’s been absolutely no collusion, so we're very happy."

His comments came after his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, pleaded guilty in court on Friday to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US before Trump took power.

Investigators also revealed that Flynn was now cooperating with authorities and that he was prepared to testify that he was directed by a "very senior" transition official to make contact with Russia.

Read more: Michael Flynn to testify Trump's team directed him to contact Russia

A timeline of the Russia investigation 2013: Mr. Trump goes to Russia June 18, 2013. Donald Trump tweeted: "The Miss Universe Pageant will be broadcast live from MOSCOW, RUSSIA on November 9. A big deal that will bring our countries together!" He later added: "Do you think Putin will be going - if so, will he become my new best friend?" October 17, 2013 Trump tells chat show host David Letterman he has conducted "a lot of business with the Russians."

A timeline of the Russia investigation September 2015: Hacking allegations raised An FBI agent tells a tech-support contractor at the Democratic National Committee it may have been hacked. On May 18, 2016, James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence, says there were "some indications" of cyberattacks aimed at the presidential campaigns. On June 14, 2016 the DNC announces it had been the victim of an attack by Russian hackers.

A timeline of the Russia investigation July 20, 2016: Kislyak enters the picture Senator Jeff Sessions — an early Trump endorser who led his national security advisory committee — meets Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and a group of other ambassadors at a Republican National Convention event.

A timeline of the Russia investigation July 22, 2016: Assange thickens the plot Julian Assange's WikiLeaks publishes 20,000 emails stolen from the DNC, appearing to show a preference for Hillary Clinton over Senator Bernie Sanders.

A timeline of the Russia investigation July 25, 2016: Cometh the hour, Comey the man The FBI announces it is investigating the DNC hack saying "a compromise of this nature is something we take very seriously."

A timeline of the Russia investigation November 8, 2016: Trump elected Donald Trump is elected president of the United States. On November 9, the Russian parliament burst into applause at the news.

A timeline of the Russia investigation November 10, 2016: Team Trump denies Russia link Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Rybakov says there "were contacts" between the Russian government and the Trump campaign during the election campaign. The Trump campaign issues a firm denial.

A timeline of the Russia investigation November 18, 2016: Flynn appointed Trump names General Michael Flynn as his national security adviser. The former Defense Intelligence Agency chief was a top foreign policy adviser in Trump's campaign. Flynn resigned in February after failing to disclose full details of his communication with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

A timeline of the Russia investigation January 26, 2017: Yates - 'The center cannot hold' Acting Attorney General Sally Yates tells White House counsel Don McGahn that Flynn made false statements regarding his calls with Kislyak. On January 30, Trump fires Yates for refusing to enforce his travel ban, which was later blocked by federal courts.

A timeline of the Russia investigation March 2, 2017: Sessions recuses himself Trump says he has "total confidence" in Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Sessions announces he will recuse himself from any investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.

A timeline of the Russia investigation March 20, 2017: FBI examines Trump-Kremlin links FBI Director James Comey confirms before the House Select Committee on Intelligence that the FBI was investigating possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign.

A timeline of the Russia investigation May 9, 2017: Trump sacks Comey In a letter announcing the termination, Trump writes: "While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau."

A timeline of the Russia investigation May 17, 2017: Mueller appointed special counsel Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appoints former FBI Director Robert Mueller to look into Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

A timeline of the Russia investigation August 2017: FBI seizes documents from Manafort Shortly after Mueller convenes a grand jury for the investigation, the FBI seizes documents from one of Paul Manafort's properties as part of a raid for Mueller's probe. The former Trump campaigner manager stepped down in August 2016 after allegations surfaced that he had received large payments linked to Ukraine's former pro-Russian government.

A timeline of the Russia investigation September 2017: Trump Jr.'s talks to Senate committee Donald Trump Jr. tells the Senate Judiciary Committee he has not colluded with a foreign government. The closed-door interview relates to his June 2016 meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, which was also attended by his brother-in-law, Jared Kushner, and then-campaign manager Paul Manafort. Trump Jr.’s emails, however, suggest the meeting was supposed to produce dirt on Clinton.

A timeline of the Russia investigation October 2017: Internet giants allege Russian interference Facebook, Twitter and Google reportedly tell US media they have evidence that Russian operatives exploited platforms to spread disinformation during the 2016 US presidential election. The three companies are appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee in November 2017.

A timeline of the Russia investigation July 2018: Trump and Putin meet in Helsinki Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Helsinki for their first-ever summit. During the trip, Trump publically contradicts the findings of US intelligence agencies who concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

A timeline of the Russia investigation November 8, 2018: Sessions resigns as attorney general Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigns from his post, under reported pressure from Trump. The president then appoints a critic of the Mueller probe as his successor, but later nominates William Barr to be the next attorney general in December 2018.

A timeline of the Russia investigation November 29, 2018: Former Trump lawyer pleads guilty Trump's former long-time personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleads guilty to lying to Congress about discussions in 2016 on plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. The FBI raided his home earlier that year in April. He would later be sentenced to three years in prison. In 2019, he tells Congress that Trump is a "racist" and a "con man."

A timeline of the Russia investigation January 2019: Trump associate Roger Stone arrested Roger Stone, a longtime Trump associate and Republican operative, is arrested at his home in Florida for lying to Congress about having advance knowledge of plans by WikiLeaks to release emails from the Democratic Party that US officials say were stolen by Russia.

A timeline of the Russia investigation March 13, 2019: Manafort sentenced to prison Manafort is found guilty of conspiracy charges and handed an additional sentence, bringing his total prison sentence to 7.5 years. In August 2018, a court in Virginia found him guilty of eight charges, including tax and bank fraud. He also pleaded guilty to two conspiracy counts.

A timeline of the Russia investigation March 22, 2019: Mueller ends Russia probe Special counsel Robert Mueller submits a confidential 448-page report on the findings of his investigation to the US Justice Department. The main conclusions of the report are made public when they are given to Congress. A redacted version of the report is released to the public on April 18, though Democrats call for the full report to be released.

A timeline of the Russia investigation March 24, 2019: Trump declares 'exoneration' The final report concluded that no one involved in Trump's 2016 election campaign colluded with Russia. Attorney General William Barr said the report provided no evidence that Trump obstructed justice, but stopped short of fully exonerating the president. Reacting to the findings, Trump described the probe as an "illegal take-down that failed," and said there was "complete and total exoneration."

A timeline of the Russia investigation May 1, 2019: Barr testifies In late March, Mueller writes a letter expressing concerns over the way Barr portrayed his report. The attorney general says the special counsel's letter was "a bit snitty" while testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in May. Barr then cancels a subsequent appearance before the House Judicial Committee, citing "unprecedented and unnecessary" hearing conditions.

A timeline of the Russia investigation July 24, 2019: Mueller light Robert Mueller's congressional testimony on the Russia probe was again inconclusive. He sometimes struggled with his answers or avoided queries. To the Democrats frustration he appeared to do little to give any encouragement to the notion that President Trump could be impeached, though he did suggest he might be prosecuted for obstruction of justice crimes after he leaves the White House. Author: Rebecca Staudenmaier, Jo Harper, Kathleen Schuster, John Silk



Many major US outlets reported that the figure allegedly directing Flynn was likely to be Trump's son-in-law and White House adviser, Jared Kushner. Flynn's contact with Russia undermined Obama administration foreign policy at the time.

Later on Saturday Trump posted on Twitter, saying Flynn's conversations with the Russian ambassador were entirely legal and that there was "nothing to hide," but the post presented a different timeline of events to what the White House had earlier indicated.

Problematic timeline

Trump's Friday Tweet implied he knew that Flynn had lied to the FBI — a criminal act — and that this had contributed to his firing, but this was never listed as a reason for his dismissal.

Flynn was forced to resign in February after just three weeks for supposedly misleading Trump staff about his communication with former Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. On Friday, investigators made clear that Flynn had kept his superiors abreast of his conversations, which took place after the election.

If Trump knew that Flynn had lied to the FBI before he was asked to resign — as Trump implied on Twitter — then he would have known about Flynn's crime even as he reportedly pressed then FBI chief James Comey to drop his inquiry into Flynn. Trump fired Comey soon after that reported conversation.

Read more: Analysis — Despite Flynn's guilty plea, Trump presidency not over yet

Flynn was Trump's national security adviser

Inner circle

Flynn was the first member of Trump's administration to plead guilty to a crime since Special Counsel Robert Mueller began investigating Russian attempts to influence the 2016 US presidential election and possible collusion by Trump aides.

Immediately after Flynn's guilty plea, White House lawyer Ty Cobb insisted Flynn had only implicated himself. "Nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn," he said.

But Flynn's compliance grants Mueller access to someone who was one of Trump's closest advisers during the campaign, transition and the early days of the administration.

aw/ng (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)