The future of the US national security adviser, Michael Flynn, looked uncertain on Friday after reports that he had discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador to Washington before taking office, contrary to his earlier adamant denials.



Trump adviser and Russian ambassador have regular contact, White House says Read more

The reports, based on leaks from current and former officials, also point to contacts between the former general and Russian officials going back to before the 8 November election – an election that the US intelligence agencies believe Russia tried to influence in Donald Trump’s favour.

Both the Washington Post and the New York Times reported that Flynn talked to the Russian ambassador, Sergei Kisilyak, about forthcoming sanctions from the Obama administration in response to Russian electoral meddling. The allegations led to calls from Democrats for Flynn to be dismissed while some prominent Republicans were tepid in their support.

“The allegation that General Flynn, while President Obama was still in office, secretly discussed with Russia’s ambassador ways to undermine the sanctions levied against Russia for its interference in the presidential election on Trump’s behalf, raises serious questions of legality and fitness for office,” said Adam Schiff, the Democratic ranking member of the House intelligence committee, in a written statement.

Senator Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota, told CNN that it was up to Trump what happened with Flynn, saying that if the country had been misled, “we would expect the president to take appropriate actions”.

When asked by reporters aboard Air Force One about the report, Trump replied: “I don’t know about that. I haven’t seen it. What report is that? I haven’t seen that. I’ll look into that.”

Flynn and the US vice-president, Mike Pence, had previously issued flat denials that Flynn and Kisilyak had spoken about anything of substance and the White House had insisted that the conversations involved only the exchange of Christmas greetings and preparations for a future Trump phone call with Vladimir Putin.

On Friday, Flynn’s staff at the national security council said he could no longer be sure whether sanctions had been discussed. Officials told CNN that Pence had taken Flynn’s word before vouching for him. The Kremlin denied that Flynn had discussed sanctions with the ambassador.

The reports quoted sources who had seen a purported intelligence transcript of the calls. It would have been fairly routine for the Russian ambassador to Washington to have his calls tapped, raising questions over whether Flynn, a former Defense Intelligence Agency chief, knew his discussion would be monitored.

The officials said Flynn had not gone as far as pledging the sanctions would be reversed, but had raised that possibility. Such a conversation could be a breach of the Logan Act, a 1799 law prohibiting private citizens from negotiating with countries with which the US is in dispute.

Only one person, in 1803, has ever been indicted under the Logan Act and it is not unusual for officials on presidential teams to have contacts with foreign governments. Legal experts said it was the earlier denials by Flynn that have made his hold on his job more tenuous, as well the broader context. An investigation is still under way by several intelligence agencies into Russian hacking of the election and possible collusion between the Trump camp and Moscow.

Susan Hennessey, a former NSA lawyer now at the Brookings Institution, said: “The FBI doesn’t really investigate Logan Act violations. If there’s an ongoing inquiry two months on, it’s a counter-intelligence investigation.”

The Senate intelligence committee also pledged last month to hold its own inquiry into the Kremlin’s role in Trump’s victory, and to subpoena officials if necessary, but it has yet to get started amid disagreements between Republicans and Democrats over its scope and whether it needs extra staffing.

In the wake of the new revelations, some Democrats warned that the delays could be intended to work as a cover-up.

“We are very discouraged that week after week goes by and that panel … has not been convened,” Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, said. “A lot of us wonder if it is just an effort to delay and delay and delay until no one is interested in this any longer.”

The doubts hanging over Flynn’s future have deepened the chaos surrounding Trump’s efforts to form an administration. Not all his cabinet secretaries have been confirmed, and very few deputy secretaries have even been nominated. A possible candidate for deputy secretary of state, Elliot Abrams, a former Reagan and Bush administration official, was reported on Friday to have been rejected by Trump after the president was made aware of negative remarks Abrams had made about him during the campaign.