Michael Flynn, a national security adviser to President Trump, resigned late Monday.
Flynn stepped down amid reports that he had misled administration officials about his communications with Russian ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak before the inauguration.
"In the course of my duties as the incoming National Security Adviser, I held numerous phone calls with foreign counterparts, ministers, and ambassadors," Flynn wrote in his resignation letter.
"These calls were to facilitate a smooth transition and begin to build the necessary relationships between the President, his advisors and foreign leaders. Such calls were standard practice in any transition of this magnitude."
Flynn admitted in the letter that he "inadvertently" briefed
Vice President-elect Pence and others with "incomplete information"
about his phone calls with the Russian ambassador.Flynn stepped down amid reports that he had misled administration officials about his communications with Russian ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak before the inauguration.
"In the course of my duties as the incoming National Security Adviser, I held numerous phone calls with foreign counterparts, ministers, and ambassadors," Flynn wrote in his resignation letter.
"These calls were to facilitate a smooth transition and begin to build the necessary relationships between the President, his advisors and foreign leaders. Such calls were standard practice in any transition of this magnitude."
He thanked Trump for his loyalty.
"This team will go down in history as one of the greatest presidencies in U.S. history," Flynn ended the letter. "I firmly believe the American people will be well served as they all work together to help Make America Great Again."
Trump has named retired Lt. General Joseph Keith Kellogg as acting national security adviser.
Kellogg served in the Army from 1967 to 2003, which included two tours during the Vietnam War. Before his retirement, Kellogg was the director of the Command, Control, Communications and Computers Directorate under the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Flynn has become a problem for the White House in recent days after reports broke about contacts with Russia before the inauguration. The Justice Department alerted the White House about the contact, according to the Associated Press. Flynn also apparently misled Mike Pence about the conversations.
While congressional Democrats — led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — have called for an independent investigation into Flynn's conversations with Russia's ambassador, including possibly discussing the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Moscow, Trump's senior advisers are said to be considering who to appoint to Flynn's position.
This recent incident was not Flynn's first controversial move. Flynn's son, Michael G. Flynn, was fired during the transition for tweets he posted, including those that alleged the infamous Pizzagate scandal in Washington D.C.
The retired Army lieutenant general deleted his Twitter account in late January.
Trump and his top advisers will talk with retired Gen. David Petraeus this week as a possible replacement for Flynn, according to a report.
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