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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Ahead of Flynn Sentencing, Prosecutors Tout His Contributions to Russia Probe

Michael Flynn met 19 times with federal investigators, submitting to nearly a hundred hours of interviews, in the two years since the former national-security adviser pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, the Special Counsel's Office told a federal judge Thursday.

WASHINGTON (CN) — Michael Flynn met 19 times with federal investigators, submitting to nearly a hundred hours of interviews, in the two years since the former national-security adviser pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, the Special Counsel's Office told a federal judge Thursday.

The memo comes a month after U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan agreed to postpone Flynn's sentencing pending the release of a report from the Justice Department on the investigation into Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.

Flynn is now set to be sentenced on Jan. 28, and Thursday's memo credits the value of his cooperation to date.

“The defendant has assisted with several ongoing investigations: a criminal investigation in the Eastern District of Virginia that is likely to result in criminal charges, the Special Counsel’s Office’s investigation concerning any links or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald J. Trump,” the memo states.

At the close of the memo, prosecutors note tht individuals whom they interviewed interviewed before Flynn's guilty plea in some cases "provided additional, relevant details about their knowledge of key events after his cooperation became public.”

The memo notes Flynn’s cooperation with investigators related to a release by WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential elections of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta, who had chaired the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

“The defendant relayed to the government statements made in 2016 by senior campaign officials about WikiLeaks to which only a select few people were privy," the memo states.

For example, the defendant recalled conversations with senior campaign officials after the release or the Podesta emails, during which the prospect of reaching out to WikiLeaks was discussed."

Flynn also furnished federal investigators with information about how candidate Trump's presidential transition team reached out to Russian government officials. After the 2016 presidential election, the memo notes, Flynn communicated with the then-Russian ambassador to the United States about the United Nations Security Council's plans to vote on a resolution that called for the halting of Israeli settlement construction.

Investigators also spoke to Flynn about his discussions with Russian government officials about sanctions the Obama administration imposed on Russia for interfering in the 2016 presidential election.

“Several senior members of the transition team publicly repeated false information conveyed to them by the defendant about communications between him and the Russian ambassador regarding the sanctions,” the memo states. “The defendant provided details on which transition team officials he conferred with before communications were occurring, who on the transition team was aware the communications were occurring and who on the transition team was informed about what he and the Russian ambassador discussed.”

When Flynn's communications with the Russians came to light in 2017, Trump famously fired the former general on the basis that he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his activities.

Categories / Criminal, Government, National, Politics

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