Trump says he is ‘strongly considering’ pardoning Flynn
WASHINGTON — As the country reeled from growing health and economic crises brought on by the spread of the coronavirus, President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that he was “strongly considering” a pardon for his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Mr. Trump, who appeared to spend much of the day stewing at the White House, also lashed out at a familiar group of perceived Democratic enemies: Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York.
The president brought up Ms. Clinton’s use of a private email server, accused Mr. Schumer of threatening his two appointees to the Supreme Court and falsely blamed the Obama administration of responding slowly to the swine flu outbreak in 2009.
In the evening, Mr. Trump made an appearance in the White House briefing room, where he congratulated the Federal Reserve for cutting rates to near zero. He also said Americans did not need to “horde” food, after a call with grocery executives, who he said have committed to staying open through the pandemic.
“Take it easy, just relax,” the president said. “We’re doing great. It will all pass.”
He left Vice President Mike Pence to address the escalating anxiety across the country and availability of testing.
As known cases of the coronavirus in the United States exceeded 2,700 in 49 states, Mr. Trump for the first time said publicly that he expected to pardon Flynn, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. Later, Flynn asked a judge if he could withdraw that plea.
“So now it is reported that, after destroying his life & the life of his wonderful family (and many others also), the FBI, working in conjunction with the Justice Department, has ‘lost’ the records of General Michael Flynn,” Mr. Trump tweeted, possibly referring to official FBI interview notes. “How convenient. I am strongly considering a Full Pardon!”
Some aides close to Mr. Trump say he may be moving to pardon Flynn — an act that would open up the president to enormous criticism — at a time when the news media’s attention is largely focused on a fastspreading pandemic.
Initially aides believed that Mr. Trump was likely to pardon Flynn after the November election, but officials now say it may be sooner. They caution, however, that Mr. Trump is unpredictable and could change his mind at any moment.
Mr. Trump’s comments came hours after he called for a day of national prayer.
Mr. Trump also initiated a Twitter broadside against Ms. Clinton, his opponent in the 2016 election.
“Great Job by Judicial Watch,” Mr. Trump said, promoting a news alert from a nonprofit group about a legal development in its continuing fight to obtain Ms. Clinton’s depositions about her emails as well as records related to the 2012 Benghazi attack. “Potentially a treasure trove,” Mr. Trump wrote.