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Donald Trump pardoned Michael Flynn, his first national security adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with a Russian official.
Trump announced the long-awaited pardon in a cheep on Wednesday.
“It is a great honor for me to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has received a full pardon,” Trump wrote. “Congratulations to General Flynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a really fantastic Thanksgiving.”
Trump is expected to offer pardons to several key aides before leaving office on January 20.
He has already commuted the sentence of Roger Stone, a longtime ally who, like Flynn, campaign manager Paul Manafort and adviser George Papadopoulos, was convicted under special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference and ties between Trump and Moscow.
Stone was sentenced to more than three years in prison, after being found guilty of obstruction, lying to Congress and intimidation of witnesses. His conviction remains.
Flynn had not been sentenced. Neither former Trump campaign chief executive and White House strategist Steve Bannon, accused of fraud, nor his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani are reportedly under federal investigation for possible lobbying law violations.
While forgiveness for Flynn was widely expected, his announcement drew widespread criticism.
Adam Schiff, Democratic chair of the House intelligence committee, wrote on Twitter: “Donald Trump has repeatedly abused the power of forgiveness to reward his friends and protect those who covered it up. This time he forgives Michael Flynn, who lied to hide his dealings with the Russians. It’s no wonder Trump came out the way he came in, lopsided to the end. “
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, call it “An act of grave corruption and a blatant abuse of power.”
Noah Bookbinder, executive director of the Washington nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, or Crew, said Flynn’s clemency “shows once again that for Donald Trump, ‘law and order’ does not apply to his wealthy white allies, just a racist dog whistle meant to win him political support. “
Flynn, a retired general, was a trusted replacement for Trump in the 2016 election campaign. But he served only 24 days in the White House before Trump fired him for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about a conversation in which he told the Russian ambassador Sergey. Kislyak Moscow should not respond to sanctions imposed by the Obama administration.
As part of a deal with Mueller, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. It became a cause for celebrity among Trump supporters, who claimed he was a victim of the Obama administration and caught by the office.
Flynn’s fate tangled with that of James Comey, the FBI director that Trump fired in May 2017, prompting Mueller’s appointment.
On Wednesday, another former prosecutor, Mimi Rocah, now Westchester County, N.Y.’s attorney-elect, tweeted that the path to Flynn’s clemency “began with Trump telling Comey, ‘I hope you can see the clear path to let it pass’ and Comey resisted that pressure. “
In January this year, Flynn tried to withdraw his guilty plea, prompting a lengthy legal battle between the presiding judge and a Justice Department led by William Barr, a close Trump ally.
Trump repeatedly voiced his support, despite a frequently quoted tweet from December 2017 in which he wrote: “I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pleaded guilty to those lies. It’s a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide! “
Flynn was represented by Sidney Powell, a lawyer recently expelled from Trump’s lawsuits that challenged the results in his election loss to Joe Biden after she voiced insane conspiracy theories. In court in September, Powell said he had asked Trump not to spare Flynn.
On Wednesday, Rocah wrote: “Henchman Barr tried to do it and was detained for judicial supervision. Here we are. Corruption from beginning to end “.
Trump has forgiven his allies, including former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The debate now revolves around whether the president will try to forgive himself, a move that would be historically unusual and which, if successful, could only apply to federal affairs and not state-level cases.
In a statement Wednesday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that Flynn “should never have been prosecuted [and] He should not ask for forgiveness “because” he is an innocent man. “
In a sentence, Flynn’s family They said they were “grateful” to Trump for “answering our prayers, and the prayers of a nation, lifting the heavy burden of injustice from the shoulders of our brother Michael, with total forgiveness of innocence.”
In fact, as the Justice Department points out, a presidential pardon still implies guilt.
A pardon is “granted in recognition of the applicant’s acceptance of responsibility for the crime,” says the Department of Justice, “and establishes good conduct for a significant period of time after conviction or serving of sentence.
“It does not mean innocence.”
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