President Donald Trump’s pardon of Michael Flynn protects the former national security adviser from a broad array of criminal charges stemming from the special counsel’s probe, as well as multiple grand jury investigations that posed potential legal concerns for Flynn.
Federal prosecutors released a full copy of Trump’s pardon in a court filing on Monday seeking the dismissal of charges against Flynn for lying to the FBI. Flynn had pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 2017 in the special counsel’s Russia probe to lying to FBI agents regarding his communications with a Russian diplomat in December 2016.
Trump announced last Wednesday that he was granting Flynn a “full pardon,” but he did not provide details of what potential crimes the pardon would cover.
The document filed on Monday shows that Trump pardoned Flynn from charges related to lying to the FBI, as well as “any and all possible offenses” discovered during the special counsel’s investigation. (RELATED: Who Could Trump Pardon On His Way Out?)
Trump also pardoned Flynn for any potential crimes discovered as part of grand jury investigations conducted in Washington, D.C. and Virginia, where Flynn operated a defense consulting firm called Flynn Intel Group.
President Donald Trump speaks in the Diplomatic Room of the White House on Thanksgiving on November 26, 2020 in Washington, DC (Photo by Erin Schaff – Pool/Getty Images)
Prosecutors in Virginia have investigated Flynn Intel Group’s consulting work in 2016 for the Turkish government. The investigation led to the conviction of Flynn’s business partner, Bijan Kian, in July 2019 on charges that he conspired to work as a foreign agent of Turkey.
The judge presiding over Kian’s trial tossed out the charges on Sept. 24, 2019, though prosecutors have signaled they will retry the case.
Trump’s pardon also covers “any and all possible offenses” laid out in a statement of offense filed as part of Flynn’s plea agreement.
In the plea agreement, Flynn admitted to making false statements to the Justice Department in paperwork he filed as a foreign agent of the Turkish government. Flynn’s plea agreement said that he would not face charges for the false statements in exchange for his cooperation with federal prosecutors.
Flynn was interviewed numerous times by prosecutors for the special counsel’s office as well as by prosecutors in Virginia who investigated Kian.
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