As a private citizen, he was undermining the government of the United States (Obama) and interfering in foreign affairs. And he lied about it to the public, as did trump and Pence.
The interesting thing is he likely did all this illegal stuff at the behest of trump and Pence. But they fired him for lying to them, the pretense being that trump and Pence could not possibly have known anything illegal was going on or that they would in any way condone making a deal with the Russians before being sworn in.
The fall of Michael Flynn: A timeline
Here’s a timeline of what we know about national security adviser Michael Flynn, his contacts with Russia and his resignation. We will continue to update it as more information becomes available.
Dec. 29, 2016
Obama administration action
The Obama administration announces measures against Russia in retaliation for what U.S. officials characterized as interference in the 2016 election, ordering the expulsion of Russian “intelligence operatives” and slapping new sanctions on state agencies and individuals suspected in the hacks of U.S. computer systems.
Russian response
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announces 35 U.S. diplomats will be declared persona non grata. “We, of course, cannot leave unanswered the insults of the kind; reciprocity is the law of diplomacy and foreign relations,” Lavrov says. “Thus, the Russian Foreign Ministry and officials of other authorities have suggested the Russian president to announce 31 personnel of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and four diplomats from the Consulate General in St. Petersburg persona non grata.”
Incoming Trump administration response
Flynn speaks by phone with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, and discusses the sanctions and suggests the possibility of sanctions relief once Trump is president. The call is monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies.
Dec. 30
Russian government action
In a surprise, Russian President Vladimir Putin announces in a statement that Russia will not take action against the sanctions.
“As it proceeds from international practice, Russia has reasons to respond in kind,” Putin says. ..................
= new reply since forum marked as read