Michael Flynn, who stepped down as national security adviser, was interviewed by FBI agents in the early days of the Trump presidency about his talks with the Russian ambassador, according to a report Tuesday.

Citing current and former officials, the New York Times said the interview, conducted days after he was sworn in as national security adviser, could escalate a political scandal into a felony charge against the former Army general if he wasn’t honest in what he told the agents.

Flynn had told White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, that he didn’t talk about sanctions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and Pence went on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Jan. 15 to vouch for him.

But shortly after the FBI interview, on Jan. 26, former acting Attorney General Sally Yates warned the White House that Flynn had been giving them misleading information about his contact with Kislyak and could be open to blackmail, the Times reported.

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.