U.S. Democrats have called for an investigation into whether White House national security adviser Michael Flynn discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with Moscow's ambassador to the United States while President Barack Obama was still in office.
The lawmakers contended on February 10 that the phone conversations being widely reported by U.S. media may have broken U.S. law barring private citizens from conducting foreign policy.
The White House said President Donald Trump has "full confidence" in Flynn, who has told reporters he "can't be certain" whether he discussed sanctions with Sergei Kislyak in late December when Obama was formulating a new round of sanctions against Russia.
Democratic Senators Ed Markey and Chris Murphy called for an investigation of Flynn while other Democrats demanded that Trump dismiss him.
The reports "raise serious questions of legality and [Flynn's] fitness for office," said Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
Two other Democratic senators, Richard Blumenthal and Jeanne Shaheen, asked U.S. intelligence agencies to review Flynn's security clearance, saying the reports raise "questions concerning his suitability for continued access to classified information."
The Kremlin on February 10 flatly denied that Flynn had any discussions about sanctions with Kislyak.