Trump defends Flynn, says 'nothing to hide'

United States President Donald Trump came in defence of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to the FBI about his interactions with Russia, by stating that there was "nothing to hide".

The US President tweeted, "I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!"

Earlier, Trump told reporters that there was "no collusion" with Russia.

According to reports, on being questioned if he was worried about what Flynn might say, the President said, "No, I'm not. And what has been shown is no collusion. No collusion. There has been absolutely no collusion. So we're very happy."

A day before, Flynn has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador in January.

"My guilty plea and agreement to cooperate with the Special Counsel's Office reflect a decision I made in the best interests of my family and of our country. I accept full responsibility for my actions," he said.

His plea agreement suggests that Flynn provided information to prosecutors, which may help advance the inquiry.

Flynn is accused of falsely telling the FBI that he did not ask Kislyak to "refrain from escalating the situation in response to [the] sanctions."

He was forced to resign in February after misleading the White House about meeting the Russian ambassador before Trump took office.

Flynn is at the center of a broader investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into the Russian meddling in the 2016 US Presidential election campaign.

Apparently, Mueller's team was seeking a deal of some kind to win Flynn's cooperation in that investigation.