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Flynn gave the special advocate, Robert Mueller, a voice recording of one of the conversations.
The conversations became an important investigative trail for Mueller who was investigating whether President Donald Trump had obstructed justice. The communications, from "people related to the administration or the Congress," wrote Mueller, "could have affected both Flynn's (Flynn) willingness to cooperate and the completeness of this cooperation."
"In some of these cases, the (Special Council Office) was not aware of the outreach activities until it was notified" by Flynn, announced the court record recently unsealed from the Department of Justice.
"It would not surprise me if you had an agreement with … the government … (I) f … there is information that involves the president, so we have a national security problem. need a warning, "said Trump's personal attorney to Flynn's lawyer in the voice message, Mueller said in his final report in March. At least one of Flynn's lawyers later became a single witness in the investigation, speaking to Mueller about the contact, said the special advocate's report.
Mueller determined that voice mail could have hindered the investigation, but he did not know if Trump himself had triggered the call.
"This sequence of events could have affected Flynn's decision to cooperate, as well as the extent of this cooperation.Because of privilege issues, we could not however determine whether the president was Personally involved in the message or if he was aware of it, his lawyer was delivered to Flynn's lawyer, "Mueller writes in his report.
In all, the Flynn court 's minutes revealed Thursday that the first sacked national security advisor had helped Mueller' s investigation into at least three tracks: while the special advocate was examining the case. Interaction between the Trump transition team and Russia, the dissemination of emails by WikiLeaks during the presidential campaign and the president's efforts to interfere in the investigation. Flynn also helped the Eastern District of Virginia and prosecutors from the National Security Division of the Justice Ministry open a case against his former lobbying partner, who allegedly worked illegally for Turkey.
A description of another topic of Flynn's cooperation is still blackened in the court record.
Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to having lied to the FBI in the early days of the Trump White House about his relationship with the then Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, and his activities. lobbying for Turkey. Flynn has not yet been sentenced, in part because the lobbying case in Virginia is still ongoing, and he could testify at this lawsuit.
In connection with the investigation of Mueller's obstruction, the special advocate found evidence that Trump had taken steps to hinder the investigation of Russia and had reasons to want to thwart Mueller's efforts. But Mueller declined to decide whether the president should be charged with a crime. Attorney General William Barr and then Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein chose not to indict Trump.
Mueller has accused several former Trump advisers, in addition to Flynn, of lying or falsifying witnesses.
The Department of Justice said Tuesday that confidential parts of Flynn's court record could be made public now because the Mueller report is out.
By the end of the month, the ministry will have to publish voice transcripts, Flynn calls with Kislyak and potentially other Russian officials, as well as parts of the Mueller report concerning Flynn that could still be redacted. , Flynn judge, Emmet Sullivan of the US District Court in Washington, ordered Thursday.
WikiLeaks and help with transition
Other documents revealed Thursday show that Flynn was among "a small number of people" who heard statements from campaign leaders about WikiLeaks and spoke to Mueller about these conversations. This included a discussion by anonymous campaigners about contacting WikiLeaks after the e-mails that the Russians stole from the Clinton campaign.
"The accused forwarded to the government statements made by senior WikiLeaks campaign leaders in 2016 that few people were aware of, such as recalling conversations with senior campaigners. after the publication of Podesta emails, during which to discuss with Wikileaks was discussed ", according to recently unredacted documents.
Previously, it was not known how much Flynn had contributed to this part of the investigation, since much of the Mueller report regarding WikiLeaks is still being redacted because of the ongoing case against Roger Stone or other unidentified ongoing investigations .
Mueller's final report had made it clear that Flynn had contributed to the investigation into the presidential transition and possible obstruction of justice by the president.
The newly unsealed parts of the Flynn case also emphasize how important it was that he become one of Mueller's first well-known co-operators.
"In some cases, persons whom the (special counsel) had interviewed prior to the defendant's guilty plea provided additional relevant details about their knowledge of key events after his or her cooperation was made public," Mueller wrote. other unsealed court record page Thursday.
This story has been updated.
CNN's Kara Scannell, Sara Murray and Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.
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