Retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn pleaded guilty December 1 to "willfully and knowingly" making "false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador while serving in President Donald Trump's administration, according to CNN.

It was announced last November that he had accepted the position of national security adviser, formally known as the assistant to the president for national security affairs (APNSA).

Trump relied heavily on Flynn, a three-star general with 33 years of experience in the military, during his campaign, and had considered Flynn for the running mate job before selecting Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana. Flynn, 58, remained extremely loyal to Trump and was rewarded for it.

But that was short-lived. He resigned in February following reports he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his communication with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States.

Here's what you need to know about Flynn:

1. He is a registered Democrat.

Raised in Rhode Island, Flynn comes from "an Irish Catholic family of blue-collar Democrats," according to Politico, and was a lifelong Democrat before throwing his support behind the Republican candidate. "I grew up as a Democrat in a very strong Democratic family, he told ABC, "but I will tell you that Democratic party that exists in this country is not the Democratic party that I grew up around in my upbringing."

2. He had an impressive military career.

Flynn joined the Army in 1981. He served in Afghanistan and Iraq as the director of intelligence for Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), which includes unites like SEAL Team 6. He was then the director of intelligence for the United States Central Command and the director of intelligence for the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, helping to dismantle al-Qaeda networks. President Barack Obama nominated him to be the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency — the CIA of the Pentagon — in 2012.

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3. He was ousted from his role as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014.

Flynn was forced to resign after two years in his post, pushed out by the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and the director of national intelligence.

He wrote in the New York Post that he had been trying to "change the culture of DIA." Flynn added, "After being fired, I left the meeting thinking, 'Here we are in the middle of a war, I had a significant amount of combat experience (nearly five years) against this determined enemy on the battlefield and served at senior levels, and here it was, the bureaucracy was letting me go.' Amazing."

Meanwhile, leaked emails revealed that former Secretary of State Colin Powell had asked why the "right-wing nutty" Flynn was fired. Powell said he was told "[Flynn was' abusive with staff, didn't listen, worked against policy, bad management, etc."

Shortly after leaving the DIA, Flynn became a vocal critic of Obama. This was looked upon with disapproval by former colleagues. According to Vox, there is a direct connection between his "enmity towards Obama and Clinton" and "his abrupt dismissal from the DIA." He told Foreign Policy, "I'm not going to be a general that just fades away."

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4. After getting fired, he started a consulting firm called Flynn Intel Group, which is now the source of numerous conflicts of interest.

Flynn started getting classified national security briefings in the summer of 2015 while he was still consulting international clients on intelligence matters, according to Yahoo News. Flynn Intel Group also appears to be lobbying for the Turkish government and has reportedly been paid thousands of dollars for it. Flynn is also an ally of Palantir, the data analysis company co-founded by Peter Thiel, the Republican billionaire who took down Gawker and gave $1.25 million to the Trump campaign.

In a letter addressed to Vice President-elect Pence, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, who sits on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, wrote, "Lt. Gen. Flynn's involvement in advising Mr. Trump on matters relating to Turkey or Russia — including attending classified briefings on those matters — could violate the Trump for America, Inc. Code of Ethical Conduct ..." which promises that individuals working with Trump will "disqualify" themselves should there be any conflicts of interest.

5. Early in the race, he advised five Republican presidential candidates before siding with Trump.

Flynn said that he had spoken to Carly Fiorina, Scott Walker, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, and Trump but was ultimately most impressed with Trump, someone who, like himself, he sees as an outsider who speaks bluntly. "This is a guy that provides a different vision, a different way to solve problems, a different leadership style, and a sense of change that I believe that a majority of people in this country are really starting to look at," he told CNN.

After the election, Flynn was ecstatic. "We just went through a revolution," he said. "This is probably the biggest election in our nation's history, since bringing on George Washington when he decided not to be a king."

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6. He encouraged a "lock her up" chant while speaking at the Republican National Convention.

Like Trump, Flynn has been highly critical of Hillary Clinton's emails. "I have called on Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race because she — she — put our nation's security at extremely high risk with her careless use of a private email server," he said. "Lock her up. Lock her up! Damn right. Exactly right. There's nothing wrong with that!"

On two separate occasions, the FBI concluded that Clinton should not face criminal prosecution for her use of her private email server but Trump has not conclusively said that he would drop the possibility of prosecuting Clinton. (Back in November, Trump said it would be unlikely, but in March, he tweeted that she should be under scrutiny for ties to Russia instead of him.) but The Democratic lawyer Richard Ben-Veniste told the New York Times that such action "would be mimicking the tin-pot dictators of historical disgrace who seek to punish those who have run against them."

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7. Military officials condemn Flynn's partisanship.

Adm. Michael Mullen, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Washington Post in a statement that Flynn's behavior in the election broke code (Mullen was equally critical of Clinton supporter retired Marine Corps General John Allen). "For retired senior officers to take leading and vocal roles as clearly partisan figures is a violation of the ethos and professionalism of apolitical military service." Two retired officers told Vox they found Flynn to be "unhinged."

8. He has made numerous Islamophobic statements.

In an interview with Al Jazeera in May 2016, Flynn did not denounce Trump's Muslim ban, but he did say that "There must be more precision in the use of the language that he uses as the potential leader of the free world."

For his part, Flynn has broadly painted Islam as "a cancer" and has said that "Islam is a political ideology masked behind a religion," shoehorning the world's 1.6 billion Muslims together in language that The Intercept described as showing a "lack of precision," the very critique Flynn had of Trump.

Flynn strongly believes that "radical Islamic terrorism" is the single biggest threat to Americans. He is the co-author of a book called The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies. In another Al Jazeera interview, Flynn said, "I've been at war with Islam, or a, or a component of Islam, for the last decade." He tweeted in February that "fear of Muslims is RATIONAL" and though the tweet has been repeatedly criticized, Flynn has not backtracked or taken it down.

9. He hates "political correctness."

"Political correctness kills. It will cause death, and we can’t have that," he said on Fox & Friends in September. Flynn has also said, "My God, war is not about bathrooms. War is not about political correctness or words that are meaningless. War is about winning."

10. His position on torture is just shy of an endorsement.

Flynn was once against waterboarding but has softened his stance since aligning with Trump, who has said that he would allow waterboarding and that "torture works, OK, folks?" Flynn claims that as an intelligence officer in Iraq, he helped end abusive interrogation practices. "We were going by the book," he told The Intercept.

But instead of renouncing the use of torture or the committing of war crimes, Flynn said this about Trump's statements: "Here's what a guy like Donald Trump is doing: He's basically saying, 'Hey, look, all options are on the table,' and being very unpredictable in the face of a very determined enemy." Human Rights Watch says that Flynn shows "a stunning contempt for the Geneva Conventions and other laws prohibiting torture."

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11. He used to be pro-choice but flip-flopped immediately after his views were criticized by conservatives.

Flynn said on ABC, "Abortion, I think for women, these are difficult issues. I think that's a difficult legal decision, and I think that women are so important in that decision-making process. They are the ones that have to make the decision because they are the ones that will decide to bring up that child or not."

He later "clarified" to Fox News that he was a "pro-life Democrat" and that "I believe the law should be changed."

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12. He had to apologize for a sexist dress code presentation that went out to employees while he was at the DIA.

In January 2013, DIA employees were provided a presentation on dress code (obtained by MuckRock through a Freedom of Information request). Male and female employees were advised on how to "look sharp, feel sharp, be sharp" in their professional appearance. But there was a sexist bent to the section for women. "Do not advocate the 'Plain Jane' look," the presentation said. "Makeup helps women look more attractive." It also said that women should "consider your body type" when choosing clothing, and "accentuate the positive/disguise the negative."

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Flynn later apologized in an email to his staff. "I've now seen [the presentation] and I too find it highly offensive," he said. He listed what it really takes to be successful (makeup was not on there) and said, "Neither the agency nor I condone this briefing and I only hope the intention to execute this task was pure of heart and intended to help ... but even smart people do dumb things sometimes."

13. Flynn and his son have been accused of being racist, sexist conspiracy theorists who love spreading fake news.

CNN reported that Flynn's son, Michael G. Flynn, has a tendency to post bogus news stories and bigoted statements on social media. The younger Flynn works for Flynn Intel Group and is his father's chief of staff, according to CNN.

"Unfortunately, only reason minorities voted for BO is the color of his skin and NOT for the issues," he wrote in a tweet during the 2012 election. He reportedly deleted the post after CNN asked him to comment, but the news outlet captured the tweet in a screenshot before it got taken down.

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CNN also pointed out that the younger Flynn wrote on Facebook in early November that Gloria Allred was a "commie" trying to "get the heat off the witch."

Son and father seemingly have this quality in common. While at the DIA, Flynn was "so prone to dubious pronouncements," according to the Washington Post, that these statements had a name: "Flynn facts." Business Insider reported that Lt. Gen. Flynn has promoted conspiracies that Hillary Clinton was involved in "sex crimes with children" and "money laundering." He also suggested that Hillary Clinton had conspired with Jews in an anti-Semitic tweet (he retweeted the statement "Not anymore, Jews. Not anymore") that he later deleted and apologized for.

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14. His ties to Russia were put under scrutiny.

"Russia presents the greatest threat to our national security," the Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr. said in July during his confirmation to be the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In an interview with NPR, Flynn seemed to agree, saying enemies of the United States included, "certainly, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, countries like Cuba, certainly China."Yet Flynn traveled to Moscow on a paid trip in 2015, appearing on RT, Russia's state-run news organization. He likened RT to CNN. "It was a paid speaking opportunity," Flynn told the Washington Post.

NPR reported that Flynn texted and called Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the United States, in December, actions that were confirmed by Trump's incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer. According to Spicer, Kislyak texted Flynn to set up a call. Once they were on the phone, "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." Even though the communications occurred around the time that the Obama administration expelled 35 Russian diplomats from the U.S. in response to Russia's alleged interference in the election, Spicer said that Flynn and Kislyak did not talk about that.

According to the Washington Post, Flynn and Kislyak also discussed the United States' sanctions against Russia in the month before Trump took office, contrary to the White House's claims they never brought it up. A White House official told the Associated Press that Flynn "can't be certain" he didn't discuss sanctions, but he can't recall ever talking about it.

In March, the White House said Flynn and Trump's son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner participated in a 20-minute meeting at Trump Tower with Kislyak. “They generally discussed the relationship and it made sense to establish a line of communication,” White House spokesperson Hope Hicks told the New York Times.

15. He resigned after reports claimed he misled the vice-president.

On February 13, Flynn resigned from his position as national security adviser following reports he misrepresented the nature of his talks with Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence. According to the New York Times, Flynn admitted he gave "incomplete information" about his phone call with Kislyak. “Unfortunately, because of the fast pace of events, I inadvertently briefed the vice president-elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador,” he wrote in his letter of resignation. “I have sincerely apologized to the president and the vice president, and they have accepted my apology. I am tendering my resignation, honored to have served our nation and the American people in such a distinguished way."

He was replaced by Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, a well-respected military strategist who was not involved in President Trump's campaign.

16. He offered to testify about Russia, but only in exchange for immunity.

On March 30, Flynn's attorney confirmed reports that he was willing to testify to the FBI, and to the House and Senate committees looking into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. But he would only agree to do so if he were granted immunity from prosecution, according to the Wall Street Journal. “General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should the circumstances permit,” his lawyer, Robert Kelner, said. “No reasonable person, who has the benefit of advice from counsel, would submit to questioning in such a highly politicized, witch-hunt environment without assurances against unfair prosecution." Multiple media outlets, including NBC News and the New York Times, report that Flynn's request has been denied, at least by Congress.

17. The Trump transition team knew Flynn was under (a non-Russia) investigation weeks before the president's inauguration.

According to a New York Times report, Flynn first disclosed that he was under federal investigation to then president-elect Trump's transition team Jan. 4. This investigation was for his time secretly working as a Turkish lobbyist, while also working for the Trump campaign.

Flynn's disclosure came about a month after the Justice Department first notified him that he was under investigation, according to two sources familiar with the situation. During the transition period ahead of the inauguration, Flynn advised President Barack Obama's national security adviser Susan Rice not to move ahead with a mission to retake the city of Raqqa, Syria, an ISIS stronghold. This plan was approved under the Obama administration, but Obama's national security team wanted to confirm it with Trump's approval, as it would most likely move forward under his administration.

The Raqqa plan reportedly did not line up with Turkish interests in the region because it involved Kurdish military forces. Ten days before president-elect Trump's inauguration, Flynn asked Rice to hold off. The plan to retake Raqqa was eventually approved but only after Flynn had resigned.

Flynn reportedly received over $500,000 to secretly represent Turkey's interests. It is unclear when, and if, he consulted other members of Trump senior staff before responding to Rice.

18. He invoked the Fifth Amendment protection in order to avoid complying with a subpoena.

In May, Flynn took the Fifth and refused to hand over documents subpoenaed by the Senate Intelligence Committee, NPR reported. The panel had requested documents relating to his conversations with Russian officials as part of a probe into Russia meddling with the 2016 presidential campaign.

19. Flynn was charged was lying to the F.B.I.

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Michael Flynn enters the courthouse to enter a guilty plea December 1.

In December 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to "willfully and knowingly" making "false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to the F.B.I. about his conversations with the Russian ambassador, according to ABC News. After entering his plea, Flynn released a statement through his law firm:

Flynn is the fourth Trump administration official to be charged as part of Robert Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between the Russian government and the Trump team.

This article was originally published in January and has been updated.

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STORY BY HELIN JUNG

Helin Jung is a writer and editor based in Los Angeles. She was formerly the executive lifestyle editor of Cosmopolitan.com.