January 4, 2017 (morning)
FBI agents draft document to close Flynn probe named “Crossfire Razor.”
January 4, 2017 (afternoon)
Strzok texts agents not to “close Razor yet” and “7th floor involved,” meaning senior FBI leadership is ordering that case be kept open.
January 5, 2017
At Oval Office meeting, Justice Department’s Sally Yates, Comey, Brennan, and Clapper brief President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and National Security Adviser Susan Rice. They discuss plans for Comey to brief Trump on parts of dossier. Handwritten notes taken around that time by Strzok depict Comey saying that the Flynn calls with Kislyak “appear legit,” Obama saying he wants “the right people on it,” and Biden raising the subject of the Logan Act.
January 6, 2017
Comey briefs President-elect Trump on parts of Steele dossier.
January 10, 2017
CNN reports on Steele dossier; BuzzFeed publishes dossier.
Jan 12, 2017
First leak of Flynn-Kislyak phone calls published by David Ignatius at the Washington Post. Ignatius suggests Flynn may have violated the “spirit” of the Logan Act. Biden requests Flynn’s identity be unmasked.
FBI receives U.S. intelligence report warning of an inaccuracy in Steele dossier and assessing that the material was “part of a Russian disinformation campaign to denigrate U.S. foreign relations.”
FISA warrant application, still relying largely on Steele dossier and without disclosing key reasons to doubt it, is renewed.
January 20, 2017
Moments before leaving the White House for the last time as national security adviser, Rice sends herself an email about the January 5 Oval Office meeting, claims that Obama wanted everything done “by the book.”
Trump is inaugurated.
January 24, 2017
Comey sends FBI agents Strzok and Pientka to talk to Flynn at the White House and try to catch him in a lie. Agents do not tell him he is the target of an investigation.
January 24–26, 2017
FBI interviews Steele’s primary sub-source, Igor Danchenko, who tells them he could not corroborate dossier claims. Danchenko indicates that dossier misstated or exaggerated many of his claims, and in any case some of his reports included “rumor and speculation.”
January 25, 2017
House Intelligence Committee led by Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) announces investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
February 9, 2017
Washington Post reports Flynn misled Trump officials about Kislyak call and says nine anonymous sources confirm the Flynn leak, which was from a classified transcript.
February 13, 2017
Flynn resigns, stating he “inadvertently briefed” Trump administration “with incomplete information.”
March 2017
FBI meets again with Danchenko, who reports that he never expected his statements to be presented as facts, saying it was “just talk.” Adds that information came from “word of mouth and hearsay” expressed in conversation “with friends over beers” and the most salacious claims were made in “jest.”
March 2, 2017
Attorney General Jeff Sessions recuses himself from the Russia investigation.
March 20, 2017
At a House Intelligence Committee open hearing, Comey announces the FBI is investigating Russian election interference and possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign. At this hearing Representative Adam Schiff reads Steele dossier allegations into the Congressional Record.
March 22, 2017
On MSNBC, Schiff tells Chuck Todd he has “more than circumstantial evidence” of Trump associates colluding with Russia.
April 7, 2017
FISA warrant application to surveil Carter Page renewed for the second time. Dossier used again as evidence of collusion.
May 9, 2017
Trump fires Comey.
May 17, 2017
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appoints Mueller to investigate alleged Russia collusion.
June 19, 2017
FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith alters U.S. government email, makes it appear Carter Page was not a source for U.S. intelligence.
June 29, 2017
FISA warrant application to surveil Carter Page renewed for the third time.
Summer 2017
Papadopoulos invited to travel to Israel on business and is surprised to be handed $10,000 in cash. Travels to Greece, gives money to attorneys.
July 27, 2017
Papadopoulos arrested upon landing at Washington Dulles International Airport for lying to the FBI. Agents search him for cash.
December 1, 2017
As his son is threatened with legal jeopardy, Flynn pleads guilty to making false statements to the FBI.
February 2, 2018
House Intelligence Committee chairman Nunes releases four-page memorandum on FBI abuses, laying out many reasons the FBI had to doubt the dossier in 2016—reasons not shared with the FISA Court.
February 14, 2018
FBI’s draft talking points for a Senate Intelligence Committee briefing include numerous claims the FBI knew to be false. FBI document maintains dossier primary sub-source “did not cite any significant concerns with the way his reporting was characterized in the dossier” when in fact he had cited numerous such concerns in direct communication with the FBI.
March 22, 2018
House Intelligence Committee votes to release its Russia investigation report, revealing that none of the dozens of witnesses the committee interviewed presented any evidence of Trump or his associates colluding with Russia.
December 4, 2018
Prosecutors recommend no prison time for Flynn.
January 16, 2019
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) requests Department of Defense inspector general review Office of Net Assessment contracts with Stefan Halper. Halper’s associate Schrage would later tell Maria he never saw anyone receive such lucrative contracts for academic reports.
April 18, 2019
Mueller reports finding no collusion by Trump campaign—or any American.
July 24, 2019
Mueller testifies to the House Judiciary Committee and House Intelligence Committee. He appears disoriented and unfamiliar with the details of his own investigation, and claims not to know what Fusion GPS is.
October 25, 2019
Flynn files motion to dismiss the case against him.
December 2019
Department of Justice inspector general reports “at least 17 significant errors or omissions” in the Carter Page FISA warrant applications, among other problems, with the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
December 17, 2019
Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer of the FISA Court issues a public order demanding that the FBI report on what it is doing to ensure accurate applications that include all material facts.
January 14, 2020
Flynn files motion to withdraw his guilty plea.
March 2020
FISA Court effectively bans FBI agents involved in the Trump campaign wiretap abuses from appearing before it on any other matters.
May 7, 2020
Department of Justice announces decision to drop Flynn case.
August 19, 2020
Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, thirty-eight years old, pleads guilty to altering an email that helped justify surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, becoming the first guilty plea as part of John Durham’s criminal investigation into the
