Special Counsel Robert Mueller has recommended no jail time for former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn after Flynn reportedly cooperated with the investigation.
Court documents that were filed on Tuesday stated that Flynn provided “substantial assistance” to Mueller’s investigation and as a result, Mueller asked that Flynn serve no jail time for making false statements to the FBI. The filing states:
The defendant deserves credit for accepting responsibility in a timely fashion and substantially assisting the government. As described in the Addendum, shortly after the SCO reached out to the defendant to seek his cooperation, the defendant accepted responsibility for his unlawful conduct and began cooperating with the government.
“Given the defendant’s substantial assistance and other considerations set forth below, a sentence at the low end of the guideline range — including a sentence that does not impose a term of incarceration — is appropriate and warranted,” attorney Brandon L. Van Grack, who works on Mueller’s team, wrote in the documents.
The filing states that Flynn sat for 19 interviews with the special counsel and the Department of Justice during the Russia investigation.
Portions of the memo were redacted because it contains “sensitive information about ongoing investigations.”
The filing states that when the FBI interviewed Flynn on January 24, 2017, “about his interactions with the Russian ambassador, the defendant falsely stated that he did not ask the Russian ambassador to refrain from escalating the situation in response to the sanctions, and falsely disclaimed any memory of his subsequent conversation with the ambassador in which the ambassador stated that Russia had acceded to the defendant’s request.”
“In addition, the defendant made false statements to the FBI about his prior interactions with the Russian government in December 2016 concerning a pending United Nations Security Council resolution,” the filing continued.
The filing also notes that Flynn made false statements to the Department of Justice concerning his contacts with the Republic of Turkey.
“Specifically, on March 7, 2017, the defendant made materially false statements in multiple documents that he filed pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) pertaining to a project he and his company had performed for the principal benefit of the Republic of Turkey (“Turkey project”),” the filing said. “The FARA filings omitted the material fact that officials from the Republic of Turkey provided supervision and direction over the Turkey project.”
Mueller’s team went on to highlight Flynn’s service record, writing that Flynn’s “military and public service are exemplary. He served in the military for over 33 years, including five years of combat duty, led the Defense Intelligence Agency, and retired as a 3-star Lieutenant. The defendant’s record of military and public service distinguish him from every other person who has been charged as part the SCO’s investigation.”
Flynn is due to be sentenced on December 18 in U.S. District Court in Washington.
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