ExTrump adviser Michael Flynn to be sentenced in December for lying to FBI
USA - Former national security adviser Michael Flynn will be sentenced on December 18, more than a year after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia during the presidential transition. A federal judge issued the date on Wednesday for the retired US army lieutenant general to learn his fate in the Russia investigation. The move comes just days after prosecutors working for special counsel Robert Mueller said they were ready for Flynn’s case to conclude. Flynn, a senior Trump campaign surrogate who gave a speech at the 2016 Republican national convention calling for the jailing of Hillary Clinton, has been a key cooperator in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and alleged coordination with Trump associates. But prosecutors have yet to reveal the extent of his cooperation, and according to US district judge Emmet Sullivan’s order, the public won’t see any details until after the midterm election in early November. Prosecutors won’t be required to file a sentencing memorandum a document, which usually contains the government’s view on the value of the cooperation, until 4 December. When he pleaded guilty last year, Flynn admitted to lying during an FBI interview about the content of his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the US. According to his plea , Flynn discussed US sanctions with Kislyak on Trump’s behalf during the presidential transition and said members of the president’s inner circle were aware of, and in some cases directing, his efforts. Flynn had urged Kislyak not to respond to sanctions imposed by the Obama administration in response to Russian election interference.
When confronted by
FBI agents about the conversations, court papers say Flynn made “material false statements and omissions”, which impeded what was then an FBI counterintelligence investigation. Flynn’s interview occurred in January 2017, shortly after he took his post as national security adviser in the Trump White House. He was forced to resign in February 2017. The White House said he was fired for misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other senior officials about his conversations with Kislyak. (The Guardian)