“The problem isn’t what already has happened. It’s what will happen now, as the Senate investigations ramp up,” said Stan Brand, a former general counsel to the House of Representatives who has represented high-profile government officials in public corruption cases.

“How are people going to react to that? Are they going to be called to testify? What will they say, and will they be truthful? Will they play it straight?” he asked. “If they don’t, then they’re exposed.”

But first comes Flynn. He could be in serious trouble, despite the White House’s assertion that it had reviewed his actions and determined that there was no “legal issue.”

His fate depends on what he told FBI agents about his December phone conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, which reportedly included talk of the Obama administration’s imposing sanctions on Russia for the alleged hack.