Legal proceedings updated for two Trump figures

WASHINGTON — An attorney for Michael Flynn said Tuesday that the former national security adviser is “eager” to proceed to sentencing and put his criminal case behind him.

Attorney Robert Kelner made the comments during a court hearing Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan. It was the first time Flynn had appeared in court since his guilty plea last year to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials during the presidential transition and his Turkish lobbying work.

Kelner said Flynn wants to put this “chapter” behind him, but special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has requested an additional delay while the retired Army general continues to cooperate with the investigation into Russian election interference and whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice.

The two sides will give the judge another update by Aug. 24, when he said he would consider setting a sentencing date for late October.

Flynn’s sentence is estimated to be between zero and six months in prison. Flynn did not comment after the hearing.

Also Tuesday, Flynn joined Stonington Global, a lobbying and global equity consulting firm headed by lobbyists who recently represented the government of Qatar. Flynn’s son, Michael Flynn Jr., also is joining the firm.

Meanwhile, a federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, ordered Paul Manafort moved to that city’s jail to prepare for his upcoming trial on bank and tax fraud charges.

Manafort, who was Trump’s campaign chairman for several months, last week asked for his July 25 trial in Alexandria federal court to be delayed until the fall, saying his incarceration in Virginia’s Northern Neck Regional Jail has made it too difficult to prepare. He also wants the trial moved to Roanoke.

Judge T.S. Ellis gave the special counsel prosecuting Manafort until Friday to respond to those motions. In the meantime, he said Manafort would be moved to the jail in Alexandria, in suburban Washington, “to ensure that the defendant has access to his counsel and can adequately prepare his defense.”