Mueller’s office to recommend sentencaing for Michael Flynn

WASHINGTON: US Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office was due to make a sentencing recommendation for former national security adviser Michael Flynn yesterday, in a court filing that is expected to shed light on the extent of Flynn’s cooperation in the Russia probe.

Flynn, who held the White House job for only 24 days, pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia. He will be sentenced in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Dec. 18.

He is so far the only member of President Donald Trump’s administration to plead guilty to a crime uncovered during Mueller’s wide-ranging investigation into Russian attempts to influence the 2016 US election and potential collusion by Trump aides.

Others who have also since been charged by Mueller include Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and campaign deputy Rick Gates, as well as Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen who last week pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a proposed Trump Organization skyscraper in Moscow.

Trump has called Mueller’s probe a witch hunt and has denied colluding with Russia. Moscow denies trying to interfere in the elections.

Flynn’s crime of lying to the FBI carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison. However his plea agreement states he is eligible for a sentence of zero to six months and can ask the court not to impose a fine.