[ad_1]
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he pardoned Michael Flynn, his senior national security adviser, who pleaded guilty three years ago to lying to FBI agents.
The pardon came before a judge ruled on a request from the U.S. Department of the Department to dismiss the case and overturn Flynn’s guilty plea for making false statements to officers about the nature of his conversations with the Russian Ambassador to the United States following Trump’s election in 2016.
“It is a great honor for me to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a full pardon. Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you are now having a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!
Trump has said on several occasions that he is considering granting a pardon to the retired Army lieutenant general in the matter.
And there has been plenty of speculation that Trump will issue more pardons in what is expected to be his final weeks in the White House, after Democratic candidate Joe Biden has been screened to win the presidential election.
Trump refused to concede the election, but was unlikely to overturn Biden’s victory either through legal challenges to the ballots or through popular vote recounts.
A spokesperson for Biden’s transition team did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment on the pardon.
Less than two hours before Trump’s announcement, Flynn had tweeted a Bible verse, which in the King James version reads: “And they will fight against you; but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you. “
Flynn’s defense attorney Sidney Powell recently told Judge Emmet Sullivan, who handled the case, that she spoke directly to Trump about the “general state” of the litigation. “
Powell also said she asked Trump to “not grant a pardon” to Flynn as she continued her efforts to have her case dismissed.
In a statement to CNBC on Wednesday, Powell said: “Michael Flynn’s forgiveness belongs solely to the President, but given the corruption we have witnessed in the justice system and the multiple government agencies executed against General Flynn, this persecution should to cease.”
“The FBI and [Department of Justice] have been a national embarrassment for over 15 years, ”said Powell.
“I had fervently hoped to make our justice system work to exonerate an innocent man – like anything the left would want if he was anyone other than Trump or Michael Flynn, but enough is enough. It’s sick. It is painfully obvious that Justice Sullivan is playing an evil political game with the life and family of a good man. “
Representative Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, slammed Trump in a Twitter post on pardon.
“Donald Trump has repeatedly abused the power of forgiveness to reward his friends and protect those who covered him up,” Schiff said. “This time he forgives Michael Flynn, who lied to hide his dealings with the Russians.”
“It’s no surprise that Trump came out on his arrival – Crooked all the way.”
Flynn pleaded guilty on December 1, 2017 and, as part of his plea, agreed to cooperate with the then-ongoing investigation that Robert Mueller, the former FBI director who was appointed special advocate to investigate the interference of Russia in the 2016 presidential election.
But since last year, Flynn’s attorneys have sought to overturn that guilty plea on the basis of misconduct on the part of federal prosecutors.
The Justice Department earlier this year filed its motion to dismiss the case.
But Sullivan refused to sign the dismissal and instead appointed an outside lawyer to present him with arguments against the Justice Department’s request.
Flynn appealed Sullivan’s rulings, and a three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals from the United States agreed with him that the case should be dismissed.
But Sullivan then asked all of the judges in that appeals court to reconsider that decision, which they did, setting it aside and sending it back to the trial judge.
– Additional reporting by Christina wilkie
This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
[ad_2]
Source link