Trump announces full pardon for Michael Flynn

President Donald Trump announced via Twitter a full pardon to his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

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“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 tweeted late Wednesday afternoon.

Flynn, 61, was part of the White House staff for only 22 days, resigning after being caught in a lie about his Russian contacts.

The former general pleaded guilty to a felony in December 2017, admitting he had misled investigators about details of his conversations with the Russian ambassador during Trump’s presidential transition, The Washington Post reported.

This spring, the Justice Department moved to withdraw the charge against Flynn, but Judge Emmet G. Sullivan held up the request to examine its legitimacy, The New York Times reported.

The pardon ends the possibility of new legal wrangling. Flynn was the focus of the president and his allies to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether people associated with Trump cooperated with Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, the Post reported.

Other people the President has pardoned included Joe Arpaio, a former Arizona sheriff, in 2017; Dinesh D’Souza, a right-wing commentator, in 2018; and Michael Milken, a financier convicted of securities fraud who was pardoned in February 2020.

Cox Media Group