Saturday Night Live's Cold Open Made Donald Trump Face Michael Flynn

Last week's political news cycle reached a fever pitch on Friday after Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and Republican Senators passed their controversial tax reform bill. But Saturday Night Livehas become adept at dealing with these end-of-week news dumps, so SNL's cold open for this week was not only prepared for the Flynn news, but it waxed poetic about the proffer made by the former National Security Adviser, too.

Channeling Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Alec Baldwin's Donald Trump is greeted by the "ghost of witness flipped," Michael Flynn, who reintroduces him to some other former associates that might come back to haunt him as the Special Counsel's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 Presidential election continues.

First to arrive is Billy Bush, the Access Hollywood host who was fired after hot mic audio tapes revealed he engaged in a lewd conversation with Trump that involved him bragging about "grabbing" women by their privates and kissing them without warning.

"Can you believe I got fired for just listening to you?" Alex Moffat's Bush says. "And then you got elected President, and now you're saying that tape isn't even real? What?!"

He's then interrupted by the arrival of Cecily Strong's Melania Trump, who's boasting about her much-maligned White House holiday decorations that include "dead branches and mysterious shadows."

Then, ghost number two arrives in the form of Beck Bennett's Vladimir Putin, who advises him to tone down his irascible rhetoric, saying, "listen, we put a lot of work into you, so much time and money, and you're about to mess it all up ... you have to chill out, broski." But his visit is all too brief, as he flees once Trump asks him whether he thinks he's "cool."

Last, but certainly not least, is Kate McKinnon (pulling double duty after beginning the segment as Kellyanne Conway) arriving as Hillary Clinton who tells him, "You, Donald, have given me the greatest Christmas gift of all: sexual gratification in the form of your slow demise. You have no idea how long I've wanted to say this. Lock him up!"