Tell us if you have heard this one before.
The Washington Post reports that two people familiar with the issue, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claim that President-elect Trump's choice for national security adviser, Michael Flynn, held multiple phone conversations with Russia's ambassador to Washington on the day the US announced retaliation for Moscow's interference in the election.
The phone calls were first reported by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius.
As Reuters reports, the conversations appear to raise further questions about contacts between Trump's advisers and Russian officials at a time when U.S. intelligence agencies contend that Moscow waged a multifaceted campaign of hacking and other actions to boost Trump's election chances over Democrat Hillary Clinton.
On Dec. 29, U.S. President Barack Obama ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian suspected spies and imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies over their involvement in hacking U.S. political groups in the 2016 election.
Whether Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak discussed those sanctions is unclear.
An 18th-century U.S. law, the Logan Act, bars unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments that are in disputes with the United States.
So with these terrible, damning insights exposed, here is the Trump transition team's response...
A Trump spokesman said on Friday that Flynn took a call from the Russian ambassador last month, and discussed setting up a call between the president-elect and Russian President Vladimir Putin after Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20.
"The call centered around the logistics of setting up a call with the president of Russia and the president-elect after he was sworn in and they exchanged logistical information on how to initiate and schedule that call. That was it, plain and simple," spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters.
Spicer said the call took place on Dec. 28. He said the call followed text message exchanges initiated by Flynn on Christmas Day, in which he wished the ambassador a merry Christmas and said he looked forward to "touching base with you and working with you."
As a reminder, president-elect Trump also defended his approach to the Russian leader in the news conference, saying it would benefit U.S. interests...
"If Putin likes Donald Trump, guess what, folks? That’s called an asset, not a liability," Trump said, adding he believed Russia could help in the fight against Islamic State.
That sure sounds like commie hate-speak to us!! Or at least we assume this will be the news cycle narrative for the weekend.