Key Trump aide pleads guilty to lying to FBI
Flynn instructed to make contact with Russians
WASHINGTON • All eyes were supposed to be on Capitol Hill Friday as Donald Trump finally secured support for his “historic” tax reform plan, which he believes will be the biggest achievement of his administration.
Instead, America’s attention shifted to an unexpected bombshell exploding about a kilometre away at the E. Barrett Prettyman District Courthouse.
There, Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser and close confidant, a man accustomed to chatting one-on-one with the president in the Oval Office, delivered a potentially Brutus-like wound.
In the previous 24 hours Flynn, always regarded by Trump as a staunch loyalist, had decided to cooperate with Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating links between the president’s campaign and Russia.
Mueller had placed intense pressure on Flynn, threatening to bring legal proceedings against his son, Michael Flynn Jr., unless he agreed to “flip” and tell everything he knew to the investigation.
Flynn, 58, looked grimfaced as he arrived at court. In the cavernous Court Room 14 on the fourth floor he sat at a table between two sharp-suited lawyers, a pad of paper in front of him.
Judge Rudolph Contreras, a bespectacled and stern figure, asked Flynn to stand. Flynn was then required to answer the questions given to every ordinary defendant — his age, whether he was addicted to drugs, if he was mentally unstable.
Then the judge asked for his plea on the charge that he lied to the FBI about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Flynn, standing slightly stooped, appeared to pause for breath, then responded: “Guilty, your honour.”
He looked a broken man. One of the two lawyers standing on either side repeatedly put an arm around his back as his head dropped.
Flynn was informed by the judge that his new criminal number was 17- 232, and that he faced up to five years in jail and a fine of up to US$250,000, and the possibility of having to pay the costs of his own imprisonment. The judge then produced a plea agreement and handed it to Flynn to confirm his signature was at the bottom. It may contain the names of the “senior officials” in the Trump team Flynn has now agreed to give information to Mueller about.
Court records indicate Flynn was acting under instructions from senior Trump transition officials in his dealings with the Russian diplomat — rebutting the idea that he was a rogue operator.
Flynn’s admission to the charge Friday could be an ominous sign for the White House, as Flynn is co-operating in the ongoing probe of possible coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin to influence the 2016 election.
“It has been extraordinarily painful to endure these many months of false accusations of ‘ treason’ and other outrageous acts,” Flynn said in a statement. “Such false accusations are contrary to everything I have ever done and stood for. But I recognize that the actions I acknowledged in court today were wrong, and, through my faith in God, I am working to set things right.”
A few hours later, James Comey, the former FBI director fired by Trump because of the Russian investigation, posted a quote on Instagram from the Book of Amos. “But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
Flynn admitted that he lied to the FBI about several December conversations with Kislyak. In one, on Dec. 22, he contacted the Russian ambassador about the incoming administration’s opposition to a United Nations resolution condemning Israeli settlements as illegal and requested that Russia vote against or delay it, court records say. The ambassador later called back and indicated Russia would not vote against it, the records say.
In another conversation, on Dec. 29, Flynn called the ambassador to ask Russia not escalate an ongoing feud over sanctions imposed by the Obama administration. The ambassador later called back and said Russia had chosen not to retaliate.
Flynn admitted that when the FBI asked him about his dealings with the Russians on Jan. 24 — four days after President Donald Trump was inaugurated — he did not truthfully describe the interactions. But perhaps more interestingly, he said others in the transition knew what he was up to.
Flynn admitted that he called a senior transition official, whose name is not listed in court records, at the Mar- a- Lago resort on Dec. 29 “to discuss what, if anything, to communicate to the Russian ambassador about the U. S. sanctions.” And when the ambassador later informed him Russia would not retaliate, Flynn again told senior members of the transition team, court records say.
The records say that a “very senior member of the Presidential Transition Team” directed Flynn to contact officials from foreign governments, including Russia, about the UN resolution on Israel. That official is also not named.