WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has settled for roughly $1.2 million a lawsuit with Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, who pleaded guilty during the Republican’s first term to lying about phone conversations with a top Russian diplomat but was later pardoned.
Court papers filed Wednesday do not reveal the settlement amount, but a person familiar with the matter, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to disclose nonpublic information, confirmed the total as about $1.2 million.
The settlement resolves a 2023 lawsuit in which Flynn sought at least $50 million and asserted that the criminal case against him amounted to a malicious prosecution. It also represents a stark turnabout in position for a Justice Department that during the Biden administration had pressed a judge to dismiss the complaint. Attorney General Pam Bondi, a former personal lawyer for the president, has been a vocal critic of the Russia investigation in which Flynn was charged. The FBI and Justice Department over the last year have pushed out officials who participated in criminal inquiries of Trump.
The Justice Department characterized the settlement as an 'important step in redressing' what it sees as a 'historic injustice' stemming from the Russia investigation that loomed over Trump throughout much of his presidency.
This Department of Justice will continue to pursue accountability at all levels for this wrongdoing. Such weaponization of the federal government must never be allowed to happen again, a spokesperson commented.
The settlement adds another chapter to Flynn's long-standing legal battle, one of six Trump associates charged in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Flynn entered a guilty plea in December 2017 for lying to the FBI regarding conversations with Syrian Kislyak, indicating he hadn’t discussed sanctions imposed by the Obama administration on Russia amidst election interference accusations. During that conversation, Flynn encouraged that Russia should remain 'even-keeled' in response to those sanctions and conveyed that better relations could be established after Trump took office.
The FBI monitored the conversation amid concerns of a Trump-Russia coordination regarding the election. Additionally, government officials publicly claimed that Flynn and Kislyak had not discussed sanctions, a statement the FBI knew to be false.
Flynn later attempted to retract his guilty plea, alleging that federal prosecutors had acted in 'bad faith'. Subsequently, in 2020, the Justice Department sought to drop the case, arguing the absence of grounds for interviewing Flynn about Kislyak and asserting that any comments he made were not material to the ongoing FBI investigation.
Comprehensively, Flynn was later pardoned by Trump, effectively concluding the court case and drawling out legal complexities surrounding it.
Court papers filed Wednesday do not reveal the settlement amount, but a person familiar with the matter, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to disclose nonpublic information, confirmed the total as about $1.2 million.
The settlement resolves a 2023 lawsuit in which Flynn sought at least $50 million and asserted that the criminal case against him amounted to a malicious prosecution. It also represents a stark turnabout in position for a Justice Department that during the Biden administration had pressed a judge to dismiss the complaint. Attorney General Pam Bondi, a former personal lawyer for the president, has been a vocal critic of the Russia investigation in which Flynn was charged. The FBI and Justice Department over the last year have pushed out officials who participated in criminal inquiries of Trump.
The Justice Department characterized the settlement as an 'important step in redressing' what it sees as a 'historic injustice' stemming from the Russia investigation that loomed over Trump throughout much of his presidency.
This Department of Justice will continue to pursue accountability at all levels for this wrongdoing. Such weaponization of the federal government must never be allowed to happen again, a spokesperson commented.
The settlement adds another chapter to Flynn's long-standing legal battle, one of six Trump associates charged in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Flynn entered a guilty plea in December 2017 for lying to the FBI regarding conversations with Syrian Kislyak, indicating he hadn’t discussed sanctions imposed by the Obama administration on Russia amidst election interference accusations. During that conversation, Flynn encouraged that Russia should remain 'even-keeled' in response to those sanctions and conveyed that better relations could be established after Trump took office.
The FBI monitored the conversation amid concerns of a Trump-Russia coordination regarding the election. Additionally, government officials publicly claimed that Flynn and Kislyak had not discussed sanctions, a statement the FBI knew to be false.
Flynn later attempted to retract his guilty plea, alleging that federal prosecutors had acted in 'bad faith'. Subsequently, in 2020, the Justice Department sought to drop the case, arguing the absence of grounds for interviewing Flynn about Kislyak and asserting that any comments he made were not material to the ongoing FBI investigation.
Comprehensively, Flynn was later pardoned by Trump, effectively concluding the court case and drawling out legal complexities surrounding it.
