
November 25, 2020, 2:46 pm
Donald Trump has officially announced via Twitter that Michael T. Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the nature of his contact and communications with Russian diplomats. Flynn resigned and entered his guilty plea as part of a plea deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He tried unsuccessfully to withdraw this plea in January 2020, and Trump’s Justice Department tried to drop all charges against him in May.
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After all these attempts to subvert justice failed, Trump followed through with his past promises and used his power to pardon Flynn.
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“It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon,” Trump tweeted. “Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!”
Flynn was fired by Trump after just a few weeks in the administration, ostensibly for also lying to Mike Pence about his dealings with Russian ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak. In spite of this, Trump has repeatedly defended Flynn and his administration has done everything in their power to erase any consequences for his actions.
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There may be an interesting twist to all this, however, as many legal experts are saying that this pardon means that Flynn can no longer use the 5th Amendment defense and that congress can and should force him to testify. Civil rights attorney Andrew C. Laufer, Esq., also argues that the pardon could be ruled invalid if Trump is found to be a co-conspirator.
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“A pardon also causes the pardoned to plead guilty for all crimes pardoned. It also does away with their 5th amendment rights,” he writes. “That, in turn, would require anyone who accepts a pardon to testify about their role in any crimes pardoned if compelled to do so.”
The fact that Flynn now must plead guilty to all charges after trying to withdraw his guilty plea makes this all the funnier.
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Many popular right-wing figures have already issues congratulations to Flynn. Meanwhile, Trump critics are already demanding lawmakers move to force Flynn to testify on his dealings with Russia. That, or they’re just assuming it will happen because it’s too delicious to resist.
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Trump has said multiple times since the Russia collusion issue came to a head that he planned to pardon Flynn before leaving office, so some are also taking this as a further sign of acceptance from the outgoing president that he did indeed lose the election. With all these caveats, what first struck many Trump critics as bad news is fast becoming a pre-Thanksgiving treat.
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“The devil is in the details of the Flynn pardon,” says attorney Richard Signorelli. “The broader the coverage, then the easier it will be to compel his testimony against Trump b/c no 5th amendment. The narrower the coverage, then the easier it will be to charge him with the unpardoned offenses.”
*First Published: November 25, 2020, 2:46 pm
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