Flynn Famously Led “Lock Her Up” Chants At Trump Campaign Rallies
Trump’s former National Security Adviser resigned under a cloud in February after lying to Vice President Mike Pence about the content of conversations with then Russian Ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak. Trump later said he regretted the decision to let the former Army General go, blaming the “fake media” for “treating him very, very unfairly”. Fired FBI Director James Comey reported Trump asked him “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go“…
Those moves snowballed, setting in motion events that ultimately led to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
But according to the Washington Post, today’s charge “relates to false statements Flynn made to the FBI on January 24 — four days after President Trump was inaugurated”, and long before Special Counsel Mueller was appointed. Those statements related to conversations Flynn had with Russia’s Ambassador after Trump was elected, but before he was inaugurated.
Flynn is a major player, and the first person indicted who actually worked in the White House, so it’s going to be hard for Trump to argue he barely knew the guy or they weren’t close (as he has with the 3 people previously indicted in Mueller’s investigation, even though one, Paul Manafort, was his Campaign Chair).
The Washington Post also reports, as part of Flynn’s plea deal, his son, who was also under investigation, will not be charged.
And today’s move will lead to all kinds of speculation about where Mueller’s investigation will head from here. We won’t join in that speculation, but if there’s anything really interesting, we’ll bring it to you Monday.
We can say one thing about it without a doubt: this is big. Huge.
Here are some stories from the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Politico.
Here’s a copy of the charges filed against Flynn:
