Worthy Christian News > US News > U.S. President Trump Pardons Ex-Advisor Flynn

U.S. President Trump Pardons Ex-Advisor Flynn

By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – U.S. President Donald J. Trump has pardoned Michael Flynn, his first national security advisor, who pleaded guilty to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about his contacts with Russian officials.

It was the first of several clemency actions Trump is due to take before he leaves office on January 20. “It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon,” Trump wrote on the social networking site Twitter. @Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!”

Trump’s pardon directly aims the investigation into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 United States elections. The president has long insisted the probe was motivated by political bias. Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to FBI agents about the conversations he had with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Trump fired Flynn in February 2017 after it emerged that Flynn’s contact with Kislyak was concealed from Vice President Mike Pence. Flynn had been on the job for just 24 days. However, Flynn denied that he privately asked Kislyak in December 2016 not to escalate the situation by retaliating against then-President Barack Obama’s move to toss 35 Russian diplomats over Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.

The Justice Department in May moved to drop Flynn’s case before sentencing, arguing that FBI agents had no reason to interview him and any lies he told were not material.

DROPPING CASE

The Justice Department in May moved to drop Flynn’s case before sentencing, arguing that FBI agents had no reason to interview him and any lies he told were not material.

But a federal appeals court in Washington declined to order the dismissal, which as of Wednesday remained pending before U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan.

Joe Biden, who claimed victory in the November 3 presidential election, reportedly suggested the never-used Logan Act of 1799 as a reason to keep open the Flynn investigation that the FBI was prepared to close.

The Logan Act bans ordinary citizens from conducting foreign diplomacy. It has never resulted in a conviction and is widely considered unconstitutional.

A January 4, 2017, a note attributed to disgraced FBI official Peter Strzok, who interviewed Flynn weeks later, says, “VP: Logan Act.”

TRANSCRIPTS RELEASED

Transcripts of calls between Flynn and Kislyak were released in May, showing Flynn did discuss with the Russian ambassador both sanctions and a UN vote. But Republicans stressed the transcripts showed “there was nothing improper” about the calls’ substance, which Flynn made with the knowledge of other Trump transition officials.

In late April, Trump claimed that Flynn had been “essentially exonerated” of lying to the FBI after documents were released as part of a re-examination of his case showing the then-counterintelligence director of the bureau openly questioned whether the agency’s “goal” was to “get [Flynn] to lie.”

Flynn is the second Trump associate convicted in the Russia investigation to be granted clemency by the president. Trump commuted the sentence of longtime confidant Roger Stone in July, days before he was to begin serving 40 months in prison.

Stone was convicted of obstructing the House’s probe into whether Trump operatives cooperated with Russia before the 2016 election. The pardons are part of a broader effort to undo the results of what Trump views as a politically motivated investigation that overshadowed his administration.

It yielded criminal charges against a half dozen Trump associates. The president is reportedly also considering pardoning former campaign officials Paul Manafort and Carter Page.

(With additional reporting by Worthy News founder and editor George Whitten).