Mueller says Flynn should not serve jail time after co-operation
Michael Flynn, US President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, is assisting prosecutors with three separate investigations – including a previously undisclosed inquiry – court documents show.
Such is the extent of his assistance that a sentencing memo submitted by Robert Mueller, the special counsel, recommended he serve no jail time.
Flynn is due to be sentenced in two weeks. Last year, he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the US.
The memo had been the subject of much anticipation as Trump watchers hoped to learn exactly what the retired general told investigators.
Details of the third inquiry are entirely redacted and prosecutors wrote that they could not reveal more about “ongoing investigations”.
Supporters of Mr Trump insisted the filing revealed no new details of ties between his campaign and Moscow, but Democrats said the existence of an additional investigation showed that prosecutors had more to reveal.
Mark Meadows, a Republican Congressman for North Carolina, said it was good news for Mr Trump.
“Let’s look at what is not in there,” Mr Meadows told Fox News. “There is no suggestion that Michael Flynn had anything to do with collusion.”
Even so, the extent of Flynn’s co-operation is certain to cast a further shadow over the White House. The filing said he sat for 19 interviews with Mr Mueller’s
team and other prosecutors, and passed on documents and communications.
“The defendant’s assistance to the government was substantial and merits consideration at sentencing,” the memo said.
“His early co-operation was particularly valuable because he was one of the few people with long-term and first-hand insight regarding events and issues under investigation.”
It says he helped Mr Mueller’s criminal investigation and a third inquiry, prompting immediate speculation of a secret intelligence investigation.
The filing suggests Mr Flynn has made good on his promise to “set things right”, made after resigning from the White House after only 24 days.
He was forced out when it was revealed he had misled Mike Pence, the Vice President, about the extent of his communications with Russian officials.
The memo also criticises Flynn for work he did on behalf of the Turkish government while he was working for the campaign.
It singled out an opinion piece published on election day that called for the deportation of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in the US who was blamed by Ankara for orchestrating a failed coup in 2016.
Flynn failed to register with the US government that he was working for the Turkish government until after he left the White House.
“The defendant’s false statements impeded the ability of the public to learn about Turkey’s efforts to influence public opinion about the failed coup, including its efforts to effectuate the removal of a person legally residing in the US,” the memo said.
Flynn is one of five Trump associates who pleaded guilty to lying to investigators.
Others, such as Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman, and George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser, have hit trouble with prosecutors who say they have not co-operated fully.