Trump pardons ex- national security adviser Flynn, taking aim at Russia probe
Prez makes move despite ex- national security adviser’s guilty plea in Russia probe
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, ending a yearslong prosecution in the Russia investigation that saw Flynn twice plead guilty to lying to the FBI and then reverse himself before the Department of Justice stepped in to dismiss his case.
“It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon,” Trump tweeted. “Congratulations to @ GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!”
The pardon, coming in the waning weeks of Trump’s single term, is part of a broader effort by the president to undo the results of a Russia investigation that shadowed his administration and yielded criminal charges against a half dozen associates. It comes just months after the president commuted the sentence of another associate, Roger Stone, days before he was to report to prison.
A Justice Department official said the department was not consulted on the pardon and learned Wednesday of the plan. But the official, who spoke on condition on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, noted that the president has the legal power to pardon Flynn.
Democrats lambasted the pardon, calling it undeserved and unprincipled.
“The President’s enablers have constructed an elaborate narrative in which Trump and Flynn are victims and the Constitution is subject to the whims of the president,” House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler said in a statement. “Americans soundly rejected this nonsense when they voted out President Trump. ”
The pardon spares Flynn the possibility of any prison sentence.
At issue in the case was an FBI interview of Flynn that took place in January 2017, days after Trump was inaugurated.
Flynn acknowledged lying during that interview by saying he had not discussed with the then- Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, sanctions that had just been imposed on Russia for election interference by the outgoing Obama administration.
During that conversation, Flynn urged Kislyak for Russia to be “evenkeeled” in response to the punitive measures, and assured him “we can have a better conversation” about relations between the two countries after Trump became president.
The conversation alarmed the FBI, which at the time was investigating whether the Trump campaign and Russia had coordinated to sway the election’s outcome. In addition, White House officials were stating publicly that Flynn and Kislyak had not discussed sanctions, which the FBI knew was untrue.
But last May, the Justice Department abruptly reversed its position in the case.
It asserted the FBI had no basis to interview Flynn about Kislyak that any statements he may have made were not relevant to the FBI’s broader counterintelligence probe. It cited internal FBI notes showing that agents had planned to close out their investigation into Flynn weeks earlier.
Flynn was ousted from his position in February 2017 after news broke that he had indeed discussed sanctions with Kislyak and that former Obama administration officials had warned the White House that he could be vulnerable to blackmail.
Flynn was among the first of the president’s aides to admit guilt in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and cooperated extensively for months.