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“Abuse of power”: Trump pardons former security adviser Michael Flynn
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“It has a different flavor than Barack Obama”
US President Donald Trump pardoned his former security adviser Michael Flynn. Other presidents also carried out pardons shortly before the end of their terms. WELT reporter Steffen Schwarzkopf explains why Trump has an aftertaste.
He lied to the FBI and was tried. Now, US President Donald Trump has pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Major Democrats accuse Trump of abuse of power.
ORUS President Donald Trump pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, exposing himself to abuses of power. “It is a great honor for me to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has received a full pardon,” Trump wrote on Twitter Wednesday. The retired general was involved in the Russian affair about the possible electoral influence of Russia. Top Democrats in the United States Congress accused Trump of carefully undermining the rule of law.
The Republican could pardon other people before his term ends on January 20. Former presidents like Barack Obama exercised this right until their last day in office.
Flynn had only served as the National Security Advisor in the White House for just over three weeks in 2017. He later admitted in the course of the investigation into possible Russian influence in the 2016 US presidential election that he had lied to the Federal Police of the FBI. He is also said to have lied to Vice President Mike Pence about the matter. Flynn was the only one to plead guilty to the investigations of FBI Special Investigator Robert Mueller.
In January, Flynn filed a motion to withdraw his confession shortly before a verdict was expected at his trial. In May, the Justice Ministry called for an end to the proceedings in a very unusual step. One was not convinced that Flynn’s hearing in January 2017 was based on a legitimate investigation, he said, among other things. Trump later hailed Flynn as a “hero.”
The case was caught in a federal court after the controversial advance of the Ministry of Justice. The responsible judge did not agree to drop the charges against Flynn.
The possibility of Trump forgiving his confidante had been in the room for a long time. In March, the president announced that he was seriously considering a “full pardon.” According to Trump, Flynn was treated unfairly by the judiciary and the FBI. He repeatedly complained that Flynn had been persecuted by the judiciary. “You accused Flynn of lying and he did not lie,” Trump said in an October interview. In his words, the Russian investigation was a pure “witch hunt.”
“He is an innocent man”
Before the presidential election on November 3, the legal battle in the Flynn case was back on the agenda: Republicans sought to mobilize their supporters by describing an establishment conspiracy against Trump.
The statement by Trump spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday had a similar tone: “General Flynn shouldn’t need a pardon. He is an innocent man ”. She was a “victim of partisan government officials” who tried to undermine the 2016 election. McEnany accused employees of former President Barack Obama’s administration of having thwarted a “peaceful transfer of power” to his successor.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows referred to Flynn as an “American patriot” on Twitter. “What the left has done to him and his family over the past four years must no longer be allowed in America.”
House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi accused Trump of abuse of power in favor of a convicted criminal: “Flynn’s actions have represented a serious and dangerous violation of our national security.” The pardon is further proof that Trump complies with the rule of law. Does not matter.
The Chairman of the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, wrote on Twitter: “Donald Trump has repeatedly abused his pardon to reward his friends and protect those who have covered him.”
