Michael Flynn should get little or no prison time, special counsel's office says
Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn/Shutterstock.com.
President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has cooperated with prosecutors and should get little or no prison time, according to a court filing by the office of special counsel Robert Mueller.
Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI last December and released a statement saying he was cooperating. According to the government sentencing memorandum filed on Tuesday, Flynn gave 19 interviews to prosecutors and provided “substantial assistance” with several investigations. The New York Times, the National Law Journal, Courthouse News Service and the Washington Post have coverage.
Prosecutors said Flynn gave firsthand information about the content and context of interactions between Trump’s transition team and Russian government officials.
Flynn had admitted making false statements regarding conversations with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in December 2016.
Flynn lied about conversations with the ambassador about the incoming Trump administration’s opposition to a United Nations resolution on Israel and about its dislike of Russia sanctions imposed by the Obama administration, prosecutors say. He also made false statements about his contacts with the Turkish government in documents filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, prosecutors wrote in the court filing on Tuesday.
Flynn’s early cooperation likely affected the decisions of other witnesses to be forthcoming with the special counsel’s office, according to the court filing.
An addendum to the sentencing memo had many redactions, “continuing to shroud in secrecy the details of what Flynn has told Mueller’s team and other prosecutors,” according to the Washington Post story. Details about one criminal investigation were completely redacted.
Sentencing for Flynn is scheduled for Dec. 18 before U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan of Washington, D.C.
See also:
Just Security: “Perjury Chart: Trump Associates’ Lies, False or Misleading Statements on Russia to Federal Authorities”
