Michael Flynn: Legal Transgressions And Their Consequences

Michael Flynn, a retired United States Army lieutenant general, was the 24th US National Security Advisor during the first 22 days of the Trump administration. In 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to willfully and knowingly making false statements to the FBI about his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the US. Flynn admitted to lying about urging Kislyak not to retaliate in response to the sanctions imposed by the Obama administration following Russian interference in the 2016 US election. He also admitted to lying about lobbying work that may have benefited the Turkish government.

Flynn's sentencing was delayed several times, and in 2020, the Justice Department moved to dismiss the case. The move was highly unusual and sparked criticism, with some arguing that the dismissal was politically motivated. In November 2020, Flynn was pardoned by Trump, and the criminal case against him was dismissed.

Lying to the FBI about his conversations with a Russian diplomat

In December 2017, Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to "willfully and knowingly" making false statements to the FBI about his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States.

Flynn, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, served as the National Security Advisor for the first 22 days of the Trump administration. In February 2017, he resigned after reports emerged that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and others about the nature and content of his communications with Kislyak.

Flynn's conversations with Kislyak took place in December 2016, during the presidential transition period. Flynn asked Kislyak to moderate Russia's response to sanctions that the Obama administration had imposed in retaliation for Russian interference in the 2016 election. Flynn also requested that Russia not support an Egyptian-sponsored resolution at the United Nations Security Council on Israeli settlements. Kislyak complied with both of these requests.

Flynn's calls with Kislyak were monitored by U.S. intelligence, and the discrepancy between the intercepts and Flynn's statements to the FBI about these conversations raised concerns that Flynn could be vulnerable to blackmail by the Russians. In January 2017, Acting Attorney General Sally Yates met with White House Counsel Don McGahn to warn him of this risk. Shortly thereafter, Flynn resigned as National Security Advisor.

In January 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a motion to dismiss the criminal case against Flynn, arguing that his misrepresentations to the FBI were not "material" because the FBI was not carrying out a legitimate investigation. However, this rationale was criticized as highly unusual and unjustified by legal experts.

In May 2020, the DOJ officially dropped the charges against Flynn, stating that it was abandoning the prosecution after a "considered review of all the facts and circumstances of this case." This decision was approved by Attorney General William Barr and was met with backlash from critics, who viewed it as a politically motivated move by the Trump administration.

Lying to the FBI about his discussions with Sergey Kislyak

On December 1, 2017, Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to "willfully and knowingly" making false statements to the FBI about his discussions with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States.

Flynn admitted that he lied to FBI agents about two discussions he had with Kislyak in December 2016, before Trump took office. In the first instance, Flynn asked Kislyak to delay or defeat a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel's building of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In the second instance, Flynn requested that Russia not escalate the situation and only respond to the US sanctions in a reciprocal manner after the Obama administration announced sanctions against Russia for interfering in the 2016 US presidential election.

Flynn's conversations with Kislyak were intercepted by American intelligence as part of routine surveillance of Russian agents. Flynn's identity was masked before the accounts of his conversations were distributed to high-level government officials. However, some officials, notably national security advisor Susan Rice, were so concerned by the accounts that they requested Flynn's identity be unmasked.

Flynn's lies to the FBI were indefensible and deeply disturbing. They were also particularly alarming given that Russia had just interfered in the 2016 US presidential election to help elect Donald Trump. Flynn's actions raised serious questions about why he and the Trump team were so in thrall to Vladimir Putin, or at the very least indifferent to Russia's threat to the US electoral system.

Flynn's false statements to the FBI were a felony and a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001, which makes it a crime to make false statements to federal investigators. Flynn pleaded guilty to this charge twice and was facing possible jail time. However, in a highly unusual move, the Department of Justice (DOJ) later requested the dismissal of the criminal case against Flynn, claiming that the FBI didn't have a legitimate basis for investigating Flynn in the first place. This move was widely criticized and seen as a partisan attempt by the Trump administration to protect Flynn.

Ultimately, Flynn received a presidential pardon from Trump on November 25, 2020, and the criminal case against him was dismissed.

Lying to Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his talks with Kislyak

Michael Flynn was accused of lying to Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his talks with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States. Flynn, who was the National Security Advisor at the time, had conversations with Kislyak in December 2016, before Donald Trump took office.

Flynn initially denied having these conversations with Kislyak, and lied about the nature of the talks. He told FBI agents that he did not request that Russia moderate its response to sanctions imposed by the Obama administration in retaliation for Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections. He also denied asking Kislyak to delay or defeat a U.N. Security Council resolution that sought to condemn Israel's building of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

However, in December 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI about his conversations with Kislyak. He admitted that he had, in fact, asked Russia to delay or defeat the U.N. Security Council resolution and to refrain from retaliating to the U.S. sanctions.

Flynn's lies to Pence and the FBI raised concerns that he could be compromised by Russia, as the Russians would have known that he had lied about the nature of his conversations with Kislyak. This could have given them leverage over Flynn and potentially posed a national security threat.

Flynn's actions also violated the Logan Act, which makes it unlawful for U.S. citizens to carry out correspondence with foreign governments with the intent to influence their actions regarding disputes with the United States.

Flynn's false statements to the FBI about his conversations with Kislyak constituted a felony, and he faced legal repercussions as a result. He initially cooperated with the special counsel's investigation and was close to receiving a sentence. However, he later changed his legal team and adopted a more combative approach, accusing the government of misconduct and withdrawing his guilty plea.

Ultimately, President Trump pardoned Flynn in November 2020, bringing an end to his legal battle.

Lobbying work that may have benefited Turkey's government

In 2016, Michael Flynn, through his consulting company, Flynn Intel Group, was hired by Inovo BV, a company owned by Kamil Ekim Alptekin, the Chair of the Turkish-American Business Council, which has links to the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Flynn was paid $530,000 by Alptekin for his lobbying work.

Flynn was tasked with lobbying the US government to extradite Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish cleric living in Pennsylvania, who Erdogan believes is responsible for planning the July 2016 attempted coup in Turkey. Alptekin paid Flynn over $500,000 to produce a documentary about the dangers of Gülen that he hoped would be like a "60 Minutes" piece. Flynn's firm was also instructed to keep its involvement in the film a secret.

Flynn's lobbying work for Turkey also included writing an op-ed for The Hill, published on the day of the 2016 election, in which he criticised Gülen and praised Turkey. At the time, Flynn did not disclose that his consulting firm had received funds from a company with ties to the Turkish government.

In March 2017, Flynn retroactively registered as a foreign agent, acknowledging that in 2016 he had conducted paid lobbying work that may have benefited Turkey's government. He also admitted that he had filed disclosure forms with the Department of Justice that hid the full nature of his involvement with Turkey.

Flynn's work for Turkey was not limited to lobbying. In September 2016, he met with Turkish government ministers to discuss removing Gülen from US soil, according to former CIA Director James Woolsey, who was at the meeting. However, a spokesman for Flynn strongly denied that such a discussion ever took place.

Violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act

Michael Flynn, a retired United States Army lieutenant general, was accused of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by acting as an unregistered foreign agent in the US and conspiracy to violate FARA.

Flynn was hired by the Turkish government to advocate for the extradition of Turkish dissident cleric Fethullah Gulen. He was also paid by the Turkish government to lobby on their behalf, which he did while simultaneously serving as a foreign policy advisor to the Trump presidential campaign. Flynn was required by law to register with the Department of Justice as a foreign agent and truthfully disclose details of his lobbying work. Despite repeated warnings by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the Justice Department, Flynn did not comply with the FARA statute.

Flynn was warned as early as October 2014 that his acceptance of foreign money might be a potential violation of federal law and the emoluments clause of the US Constitution. In November 2016, the Justice Department specifically warned Flynn that he might be violating FARA in relation to his work as a lobbyist for Turkey.

Flynn's associate, Bijan Rafiekian, who ran a consulting firm with him, had his conviction under FARA overturned in September 2019 but was later reinstated by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in March 2021.

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