Cartoon by Clay Bennett

The Independent: The federal probe into possible collusion between Donald Trump's campaign team and Russia has now struck at the heart of the White House, with Donald Trump’s former national security adviser admitting that he lied to the FBI about contacts with a senior Russian diplomat.

In a crucial breakthrough for prosecutors, Michael Flynn appeared in a Washington DC courtroom to plead guilty to one count of making false statements to investigators and announced that he was fully cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team.

Mr Flynn is the first person within Mr Trump's administration to be charged by the probe in a milestone for investigators, and the details in his plea agreement has turned attention back to officials in the president's inner-circle. Mr Flynn said that in December 2016 - as Mr Trump was preparing to take office - he was instructed to contact Russia’s Washington Ambassador at the time, Sergey Kislyak, taking direction from a "very senior member" of the transition team. He also said that he had discussed what to say to Mr Kislyak with other "senior members" of the team.

While the official was not named in court documents, multiple reports suggest that Jared Kusher, a senior White House adviser and Mr Trump's son-in-law, could be the "very senior official" involved in conversations >>>