One of the people said the Justice Department alerted the White House that there was a discrepancy between what officials were saying publicly about the contacts and the facts of what had occurred. A Trump administration official said the White House has been aware of the Justice Department warning for "weeks." Flynn apologized privately for the controversy to Vice President Mike Pence, according to a White House official. The controversy comes as Trump and his top advisers seek to steady the White House after a rocky start. Advisers have privately conceded that the White House spit out too many disparate messages in the first few weeks, though they also note that the president's own tweets sometimes muddy the day's plans before most of the White House staff has arrived for work.

Source: Fox News February 14, 2017 02:29 UTC