Trump pardons former adviser Flynn, who pleaded guilty in Russia probe

[webfact]

Trump pardons former adviser Flynn, who pleaded guilty in Russia probe

 

FILE PHOTO: Former national security adviser Michael Flynn exits a vehicle as he arrives for his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., December 18, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn who had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

 

"It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon. Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

 

A retired Army general, Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about interactions he had with Russia’s ambassador to the United States in the weeks leading up to Trump's inauguration in January 2017.

 

He has since sought to withdraw the plea, arguing that prosecutors violated his rights and duped him into a plea agreement. His sentencing has been deferred several times.

 

It was the highest-profile pardon granted by Trump since he took office. Among others, the Republican president has pardoned Army personnel accused of war crimes in Afghanistan and Joe Arpaio, a former Arizona sheriff and hardliner against illegal immigration.

 

Flynn served as Trump's first national security adviser but the president fired him in early 2017 after only 24 days as a controversy broke over the former general's contacts with then Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

 

Flynn was one of several former Trump aides to plead guilty or be convicted at trial in former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Moscow’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election to boost Trump’s candidacy. Russia denied meddling.

 

Trump in March said he was strongly considering a full pardon for Flynn. He said the FBI and Justice Department had "destroyed" Flynn's life and that of his family, and cited an unspecified, unsubstantiated report that they had lost records related to Flynn.

 

Flynn was supposed to help cooperate with the government as part of his plea deal. But he later switched lawyers and tactics, arguing that prosecutors in the case had tricked him into lying about his December 2016 conversations with Kislyak.

 

The Justice Department has repeatedly denied allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, and U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan rejected all of Flynn’s claims in December 2019.

 

Federal prosecutors had asked the judge in January to sentence Flynn to up to six months in prison, arguing in a court filing that "the defendant has not learned his lesson. He has behaved as though the law does not apply to him, and as if there are no consequences for his actions."

 

Flynn also served as head of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency but was forced out in 2014 in part due to his management style and opinions on how to fight Islamist militancy.

 

He joined the Trump 2016 election campaign and at the Republican National Convention that year he led supporters in chants of "Lock her up," in reference to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

 

Other former Trump aides were convicted of federal crimes following the Russia inquiry. Trump's longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone was sentenced on Feb. 20 to three years and four months in prison for obstruction of justice, witness tampering and lying to lawmakers investigating the Russian election interference.

 

Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, was sentenced last year to 3-1/2 years in prison after being convicted of unlawful lobbying and witness tampering, which combined with a sentence in a related case equaled a term of more than seven years behind bars.

 

Trump, defeated in a presidential election on Nov. 3, is due to leave the White House on Jan. 20 when President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

 

(Reporting by Eric Beech; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Howard Goller)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-11-26

 

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[Tug]

To bad would have been great to know what he and trump had cooked up with the russans it’s also another slap in the face of the American judicial system imo sad but not unexpected 

[thaibeachlovers]

Excellent news. IMO justice for Flynn at last.

 

Hopefully more pardons on the way.

[Credo]

I have no problem with lessening the burden on the incoming President.  There are enough people to prosecute.  

 

[Sujo]

18 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Excellent news. IMO justice for Flynn at last.

 

Hopefully more pardons on the way.

Justice would be for him to be sentenced.

 

trump fired him for lying to his vp. He then lies to the fbi and admits it two times to the court.

[Tippaporn]

41 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Excellent news. IMO justice for Flynn at last.

 

Hopefully more pardons on the way.

I'm a bit surprised.  I thought the case would have been tossed on the merits.  What I would not be surprised about is Flynn rejoining Trump.  CIA Director would sound about right.

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Excellent news. IMO justice for Flynn at last.

 

Hopefully more pardons on the way.

And you complain about the swamp?

[Chomper Higgot]

So Trump strips Flynn of his Fifth Amendment rights wrt to the crimes he committed for Trump.

 

I’m not sure why any Trump supporter thinks that’s a good move.

 

Flynn cannot now withhold testimony without facing prosecution for obstruction of justice.

 

55 days to a new USAG.

 

What a difference an election makes.

 

 

[PatOngo]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Excellent news. IMO justice for Flynn at last.

 

Hopefully more pardons on the way.

 

No doubt Trump will exonerate more of his criminal buddies and to show that birds of a feather stick together, a disgusting man if ever there was one!

[Chomper Higgot]

4 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Why? Biden has already said he won't pursue Trump. Presidential pardons don't apply to state prosecutions.

Biden has not said he will not pursue Trump.

 

He has said he will not interfere in the work of the DoJ, that he will not direct decisions on who the DoJ investigate and/or indict and he will absolutely not pardon Trump.

 

How you read Biden’s statements as ‘not pursue Trump’ is anybody’s guess.

[stevenl]

8 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Why? Biden has already said he won't pursue Trump. Presidential pardons don't apply to state prosecutions.

No, he didn't say that.

[PatOngo]

3 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Biden has not said he will not pursue Trump.

Hopefully there are plenty of others that will!

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Excellent news. IMO justice for Flynn at last.

 

Hopefully more pardons on the way.

Someone admits he is guilty, and you consider pardoning that person is justice? What a novel concept.

[ballpoint]

Pardon the swamp!

[cmarshall]

So, Trump will pardon his spawn and the loyalists like Manafort.  He would dearly love to pardon himself, but any lawyer will tell him that a self-pardon might well not survive a court challenge.  He can get a legitimate presidential pardon from Pence either by resigning as president at which point Pence succeeds to become a nine-day president or by activating the 25th Amendment by sending a letter to Congress advising them that he has transferred the powers of the office temporarily to the Vice President for a period of days or just hours.  So, that bullet-proof pardon gets him off the hook for all the federal crimes he has ever committed.  He still faces prosecution in NY State and possibly other states as well.  He can also be subpoenaed to testify in court or in Congress without any Fifth Amendment protection.  And he can then be prosecuted by the DoJ for any perjury or obstruction of justice crimes he has committed after the pardon.  

 

If I were his lawyer I would advise him to flee the country to Saudi Arabia, Russia, or some other country without an extradition treaty with the US.  Otherwise, he will go to prison.

Edited November 26, 2020 by cmarshall

[worgeordie]

Trump will be pardoning himself next !

regards Worgeordie

[Chomper Higgot]

9 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Trump will be pardoning himself next !

regards Worgeordie

He’s dumb enough to try it.

[Slip]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Excellent news. IMO justice for Flynn at last.

 

Hopefully more pardons on the way.

You did so well with the "I'm no fan of Trump" spiel back in the day. Did his humiliating loss push you over the edge like so many other Trump non-acolytes?

 

Corruption thy name is Trump.

[Emdog]

It is amazing how Trump backing "law and order" types somehow have no problem with pardons to convicted felons who have been through the "law and order" justice system.

Hypocrisy or just lack of reasoning skills?

[EVENKEEL]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

Someone admits he is guilty, and you consider pardoning that person is justice? What a novel concept.

Flynn is an American Hero, justice served.

[kamahele]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Excellent news. IMO justice for Flynn at last.

 

Hopefully more pardons on the way.

I hope your exuberance for the pardon of white collar criminals also extends to those criminals who are not white or white collar criminals. 

[animalmagic]

11 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

Flynn is an American Hero, justice served.

Heroes don't commit crimes!

[tilaceer]

Will be interesting to see if Judge Emmet Sullivan, who is in charge of this case, orders briefs to be lodged to determine if  Trump has issued a corruptly delivered pardon, and if found to be the case, he can void the pardon.
Judge Sullivan, as he has already shown in this case, will not be pushed around by the current corrupt DOJ.

Not saying he will, but considering how he has reacted to interference already in his court, I would not be surprised.

Probably much to the chagrin of Trump and his acolytes, the President cannot just grant pardons to anyone for any reason, There are checks and balances to the system to prevent this type of scenario.

Let's hope they use them here.
 

Edited November 26, 2020 by tilaceer

[thaibeachlovers]

8 minutes ago, tilaceer said:

Will be interesting to see if Judge Emmet Sullivan, who is in charge of this case, orders briefs to be lodged to determine if  Trump has issued a corruptly delivered pardon, and if found to be the case, he can void the pardon.

 

he can void the pardon.

Where in the constitution does it say that?

[placeholder]

Apparently the problem is that Flynn only pleaded guilty twice. Under the Trump administration, you have to plead guilty 3 times for the conviction to stick.

[Jeffr2]

On 11/26/2020 at 5:19 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

Excellent news. IMO justice for Flynn at last.

 

Hopefully more pardons on the way.

He pleaded guilty and was prosecuted properly. I guess your happy about Stone being pardoned also?

 

Sad times when criminals are allowed to pardon their criminal friends. And sad when some like this.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/10/opinion/bill-barr-michael-flynn.html

[Jeffr2]

21 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

 

he can void the pardon.

Where in the constitution does it say that?

Like Trump said. As the president, he can do anything he wants. Just get a Sharpie and sign an executive order.

[Jeffr2]

49 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

Flynn is an American Hero, justice served.

A hero for breaking the law? Wow...

[Eric Loh]

Justice has been violated by the pardon but the next AG and Judge Sullivan may have the last word.

[thaibeachlovers]

54 minutes ago, Emdog said:

It is amazing how Trump backing "law and order" types somehow have no problem with pardons to convicted felons who have been through the "law and order" justice system.

Hypocrisy or just lack of reasoning skills?

How about Clinton, or is it only Trump can do wrong?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_pardons_in_the_United_States

Clinton's pardons of 140 people on his last day in office, January 20, 2001, including billionaire fugitive Marc Rich and his own brother, Roger Clinton, were heavily criticized.