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WASHINGTON (AP) – After months of delay, former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn now has a sentencing date.
On Wednesday, a federal judge sentenced Flynn to death on December 18, more than a year after the retired lieutenant general of the US Army pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI over his contacts with Russia.
The decision came a few days after prosecutors working for a special lawyer, Robert Mueller, said they were ready for the Flynn case to succeed. Flynn, a Trump campaign surrogate who delivered a memorable speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention calling for the imprisonment of Democrat Hillary Clinton, played a key role in the investigation into the issue. Russian interference in the 2016 elections and coordination with Trump associates.
But prosecutors have yet to reveal the extent of his cooperation and, according to the order of US District Judge Emmet Sullivan, the public will not see any details before the mid-term elections.
Prosecutors will not be required to file a sentencing memorandum – a document that usually contains the government's perspective on the value of cooperation – until December 4.
When he pleaded guilty last year, Flynn admitted to lying at an FBI interview about the content of his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the United States.
According to his plea, Flynn discussed US sanctions with Kislyak on behalf of Trump during the presidential transition, and said members of the president's inner circle knew and, in some cases, directed his efforts. Flynn urged Kislyak not to respond to sanctions imposed by the Obama administration in response to Russian electoral interference.
In the face of conversations with FBI agents, court documents indicate that Flynn made "false statements and omissions," which hampered what was then an FBI counterintelligence investigation. The investigation was then taken up by Mueller, who made accusations against the Russians detailing a massive campaign to try to help Trump's candidacy and wound Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Flynn's interview took place in January 2017, shortly after he took office as National Security Advisor at the Trump White House. He was forced to resign in February 2017. The White House said he was fired for misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other senior officials about the content of his conversations with Kislyak.
As part of his advocacy, Flynn also admitted to lying about Turkish lobbying and research. He registered late with the Department of Justice as a foreign agent for the weeks of work that followed his departure from the White House.
Flynn and other Trump campaigners who pleaded guilty to the Mueller investigation have not been charged with any crime related to electoral interference.
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