总统唐纳德·特朗普宣布于推特他赦免了前者国家安全顾问迈克尔·弗林。
他写道:“我非常荣幸地宣布,迈克尔·弗林将军获得了全面赦免。”。“祝贺@GenFlynn和他美好的家庭,我知道你们现在将度过一个真正美好的感恩节!”
我非常荣幸地宣布,迈克尔·弗林将军已被赦免。祝贺@GenFlynn和他美好的家庭,我知道你现在会有一个真正美好的感恩节!
——唐纳德·j·特朗普(@realDonaldTrump)2020年11月25日
弗林承认做了虚假陈述在特别顾问罗伯特·穆勒调查俄罗斯干涉2016年选举期间向联邦调查局提交。
他在2017年底承认向联邦调查局撒谎,隐瞒了他与前俄罗斯大使谢尔盖·基斯利亚克的联系,然后在今年早些时候试图撤回认罪,指控调查他的特工行为不当。
白宫新闻秘书凯莉·麦克纳尼在一份声明中三次称弗林为“无辜的人”,称他不应该被起诉。她没有提到弗林两次认罪或在2017年12月1日发表声明,承认罪行并说“通过我对上帝的信仰,我正在努力纠正事情”,他接受了“对我的行为承担全部责任”。
“总统赦免了弗林将军,因为他不应该被起诉,”麦克纳尼在一份声明中说。“司法部对弗林将军案件的独立审查——由受人尊敬的职业专业人士进行——支持这一结论。事实上,司法部已经坚定地得出结论,对弗林将军的指控应该撤销。这一全面赦免实现了这一目标,最终结束了对一个无辜的人的无情的、党派的追求。”
弗林和司法部的律师于9月29日举行了法庭听证会,他们继续推动弗林的认罪被驳回。
前法官约翰·格里森,法庭指定的“法庭之友”闯入司法部在6月份的一份文件中,该公司辩称,撤销对弗林的指控是有益于唐纳德·特朗普总统个人盟友的政治努力的一部分。
格里森说:“在美国,总统不会组织压力运动,让司法部撤销对被告的指控,这些被告已经在两个不同的法官面前认罪两次,而且他们的罪行是显而易见的。”。“有明显的证据表明,这一动议反映了一种腐败的、有政治动机的偏袒,不值得我们的司法制度。”
代理首席助理美国律师肯尼斯·科尔认为情况并非如此。
不到两个月前,科尔说:“对我们办公室的指控,即我们会以某种方式运作,或以腐败的政治动机行事,这是不真实的。”
最近几周一直有传言称,周三的赦免结束了法院案件的反复。
一名DOJ官员表示,“没有征求该部门的意见”,但他们“今天得到了警告”
“我们更希望看到沙利文法官是否会采取行动,并在法庭上解决这个问题,”这位官员说。"我们对自己在此案中成功的可能性充满信心。"
但是,这位官员补充说,“这显然是对总统赦免权的恰当运用。”
特朗普的赦免立即遭到民主党人的嘲笑,众议员亚当·希夫甚至称之为“不诚实的”。
众议院情报委员会主席希夫在一份声明中说:“唐纳德·特朗普滥用赦免权来奖励他的朋友和政治盟友,并保护那些为他隐瞒真相的人。”“这一次,特朗普再次滥用赦免权奖励迈克尔·弗林,后者选择忠于特朗普,而不是忠于他的国家。”
他补充说:“毫不奇怪,特朗普一进来就出去了——直到最后都是歪的。”。
纽约州众议员杰里·纳德勒(Jerry Nadler)也提出了类似的批评。
众议院司法委员会主席在一份声明中说:“这种赦免是不应该的,没有原则的,也是特朗普总统迅速减少的遗产上的又一个污点。”
“这次赦免是一种模式的一部分,”他继续说道。“我们以前在罗杰·斯通一案中看到过——特朗普总统赦免了一个可能将总统牵连到犯罪行为中的人。在特朗普总统最终离任之前,我们可能会再次看到这一点。这些行为是滥用权力,从根本上破坏法治。”
弗林是特朗普2016年竞选的关键顾问,他于2016年11月18日被任命为总统的第一位国家安全顾问。特朗普就职两天后他宣誓就职。
就在他宣誓就职四天后,司法部当时的代理司法部长萨利·耶茨通知白宫法律顾问唐·麦克甘,他们被误导了,并表示担心俄罗斯可能试图敲诈弗林。美国广播公司新闻部(ABC News)通过接近耶茨的消息来源证实,美国截获了弗林(Flynn)和基斯莱克(Kislyak)之间的一个电话,讨论当时的总统巴拉克奥巴马(Barack Obama)在2016年底实施的制裁。
弗林在上任不到一个月后,于2月13日辞职,此前他在一封信中承认,在与俄罗斯大使通话的性质上,他误导了当时的当选副总统迈克·彭斯。
弗林在信中写道:“不幸的是,由于事态发展迅速,我无意中向当选副总统和其他人简要介绍了我与俄罗斯大使通话的不完整信息。”。“我已经向总统和副总统真诚道歉,他们也接受了我的道歉。”
President Trump pardons Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to FBI
PresidentDonald Trumpannounced onTwitterhe has pardoned formernational securityadviser Michael Flynn.
"It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon," he wrote. "Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!"
It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon. Congratulations to@GenFlynnand his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)November 25, 2020
Flynnpleaded guilty to making false statementsto the FBI during special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
He pleaded guilty in late 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak before seeking to withdraw his plea early this year, alleging misconduct against the agents who investigated him.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany called Flynn "an innocent man" three times in a statement, saying he never should've been prosecuted. She did not mention Flynn twice pleading guilty or releasing a statement Dec. 1, 2017, admitting to the crimes and saying "through my faith in God, I am working to set things right" and that he was accepting "full responsibility for my actions."
"The President has pardoned General Flynn because he should never have been prosecuted," McEnany said in a statement. "An independent review of General Flynn’s case by the Department of Justice -- conducted by respected career professionals -- supports this conclusion. In fact, the Department of Justice has firmly concluded that the charges against General Flynn should be dropped. This Full Pardon achieves that objective, finally bringing to an end the relentless, partisan pursuit of an innocent man."
Attorneys for Flynn and the Department of Justice had a court hearing on Sept. 29 as they continued to push to have Flynn's guilty plea tossed out.
Former judge John Gleeson, the court-appointed "amicus,"ripped into the Justice Departmentin a June filing, arguing its move to drop the charges against Flynn was part of a political effort to benefit President Donald Trump's personal ally.
"In the United States, Presidents do not orchestrate pressure campaigns to get the Justice Department to drop charges against defendants who have pleaded guilty -- twice, before two different judges -- and whose guilt is obvious," Gleeson said. "There is clear evidence that this motion reflects a corrupt and politically motivated favor unworthy of our justice system."
Acting principal assistant U.S. attorney Kenneth Kohl argued that was not the case.
"The allegations against our office that we would somehow operate, or act with a corrupt political motive just are not true," Kohl said less than two months ago.
The pardon Wednesday, which had been rumored in recent weeks, puts an end to the back-and-forth court cases.
A DOJ official said "the department was not consulted," but they "were given a heads up today."
"We would have preferred to see if Judge Sullivan would act and for the matter to be resolved in court," the official said. "We were confident in the likelihood of our success in the case."
But, the official added, it "is obviously an appropriate use of the president's pardon power."
Trump's pardon drew immediate derision from Democrats, with Rep. Adam Schiff even calling it "crooked."
"Donald Trump has abused the pardon power to reward his friends and political allies, and protect those who lie to cover up for him," Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. "This time, Trump has once again abused the pardon power to reward Michael Flynn, who chose loyalty to Trump over loyalty to his country."
"It's no surprise that Trump would go out just as he came in -- crooked to the end," he added.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., offered similar criticism.
"This pardon is undeserved, unprincipled, and one more stain on President Trump’s rapidly diminishing legacy," the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said in a statement.
"This pardon is part of a pattern," he continued. "We saw it before, in the Roger Stone case -- where President Trump granted clemency to protect an individual who might have implicated the President in criminal misconduct. We may see it again before President Trump finally leaves office. These actions are an abuse of power and fundamentally undermine the rule of law."
Flynn, a key adviser on Trump's 2016 campaign, was named the president's first national security adviser on Nov. 18, 2016. He was sworn in two days after Trump's inauguration.
Just four days after his swearing in, the Department of Justice's then-acting Attorney General Sally Yates informed White House counsel Don McGahn that they were misled and expressed concerns that Russia might try to blackmail Flynn. ABC News confirmed through a source close to Yates that the U.S. captured a phone call between Flynn and Kislyak discussing sanctions leveled by then-President Barack Obama in late 2016.
Flynn resigned on Feb. 13, after less than a month in the position, after he admitted in a letter that he misled then-Vice President-elect Mike Pence about the nature of his calls with the Russian ambassador.
"Unfortunately, because of the fast pace of events, I inadvertently briefed the Vice President Elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian Ambassador," Flynn's letter read. "I have sincerely apologized to the President and the Vice President, and they have accepted my apology."