Inquirer Editorial: Flynn's departure leaves questions about Trump ties to Russia

The resignation of National Security Adviser Mike Flynn after just 24 days on the job could not come soon enough. But his departure does not end the controversy, and leaves many unanswered questions about the nascent Trump administration.

Namely what did President Trump know about Flynn's interactions with Russian leaders and when did he know it?

Flynn stepped down less than a week after the Washington Post reported he discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country's ambassador before Trump was sworn in as president. Flynn compounded the problem by lying about his contacts with Russia to Vice President Pence and other administration officials.

The good news is that facts, intelligence gathering, and solid reporting still matter.

U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials said a wiretap of the conversation caught Flynn and the Russian ambassador discussing the sanctions the day the Obama administration announced them as punishment for Moscow's meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Flynn urged Russia not to overreact to the sanctions, indicating the measures could be revisited after Trump was sworn in. Indeed, Russia did not retaliate for the sanctions and Trump praised President Vladimir Putin, calling him smart.

In passing along that message, Flynn may have violated the Logan Act, an obscure statute that prohibits private meddling in foreign policy disputes.

The broader question is was Flynn acting alone? Did Trump or any other officials know about his conversations at the time?

At a minimum, Trump knew about Flynn's interactions with Russia since last month. That's when then-acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Q. Yates told the White House counsel that Flynn's misstatements had left him vulnerable to blackmail.

Yet, the president continued to back Flynn. Hours before he resigned, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, told MSNBC that Trump had "full confidence" in the retired general.

Of course, Flynn should have never been chosen to oversee national security. He has a misguided obsession with Islamism, which he called a "vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people" that must be "excised." Flynn used his verified Twitter account to interact with far-right figures and share unfounded news stories. At last year's Republican National Convention, he led chants about Hillary Clinton: "Lock her up!"

Flynn's ties to Moscow add to Trump's troubling embrace of Russia and Putin.

In 2015, Flynn was paid to speak at an event celebrating the Kremlin-controlled RT television network, where he sat next to Putin.

In August, Trump's then-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, resigned after reports of his shadowy dealings with moneyed interests in Russia and Ukraine.

Democratic leaders have rightly called for an independent commission to examine Russia's influence on the presidential election and the Trump administration. But Republicans have said very little. In seeming to look the other way, GOP leaders appear to be placing politics above honor and country.