Tick, tick, tick.

That might either be the sound of time running out on Donald J. Trump’s national security adviser — or the sound of a bomb about to explode in Gen. Michael Flynn’s face.

Flynn might be working for Trump on borrowed time, owing to his alleged conversation with Russian foreign ministry officials prior to the president taking office.

What’s worse is that Flynn, the retired Army lieutenant general who advises the president on national security matters, allegedly lied to Vice President Mike Pence about what he might have told Russian officials.

The crux of this controversy is that Flynn’s alleged conversation dealt with sanctions that President Barack Obama had leveled against Russia concerning reports that Russians hacked into our electoral process and sought to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

Did he speak out of turn to Russian officials?

The question is whether Flynn negotiated with Russians about those sanctions before President Obama turned the levers of power over to Donald Trump. If that’s the case, then we could be talking about a violation of the Logan Act, which prohibits unauthorized individuals from negotiating with foreign governments.

Add to that the idea that Flynn might have lied to the vice president, well, then you have a serious breach of protocol … not to mention a violation of federal law.

Reports are now circulating that Trump is looking for a suitable replacement. I hope they find one and I hope the replacement is more of a mainstream individual who won’t label Islam to be a “cancer” that must be eradicated.

I already have declared my desire to see Flynn kicked out of Trump’s national security advisory post. If it can be determined that he had that pre-Trump administration conversation regarding U.S. sanctions against Russia, then he has broken the law.

If that’s the case, a resignation might not be enough. There well might be grounds to prosecute this fellow for criminal misconduct.