Mueller Trumpets Flynn's Help, Says Don't Lock Him Up
Special counsel prosecutors said the former Trump national security adviser has provided “substantial assistance."
December 04, 2018 at 08:52 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on National Law Journal
Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn has provided “substantial assistance” to the U.S., special counsel prosecutors told a Washington, D.C., federal judge Tuesday in a memo that recommended a nonprison sentence.
Flynn has assisted in “several ongoing investigations,” the prosecutors wrote Tuesday in a heavily-redacted document. They noted his aid in a criminal investigation—although details were hidden behind redactions—as well as special counsel Robert Mueller III's probe into possible coordination between President Donald Trump's campaign and the Kremlin in the 2016 U.S. election. In total, Flynn has participated in 19 interviews with lawyers at the special counsel's office or the Justice Department, the U.S. said.
Prosecutors noted the “usefulness” of Flynn's assistance, writing his “early cooperation was particularly valuable, because he was one of the few people with long-term and firsthand insight regarding events and issues under investigation by” Mueller.
“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,” the prosecutors wrote Tuesday.
The memo is the first look into the extent of Flynn's cooperation with the special counsel's office after striking a plea agreement in December 2017. Flynn, who is represented by Covington & Burling partner Robert Kelner, pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators about his contact with ex-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition.
Flynn's attorney is expected to file his response to the government's memo next week, before the retired Army lieutenant general's Dec. 18 sentencing before U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington, D.C. His conviction carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, but he likely only faces up to six months, according to his plea deal.
Tuesday's memo comes amid a swirl of recent activity in the special counsel probe. Mueller's prosecutors last week saw the president's former personal attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, admit in federal court that he lied to Congress about the timeline of the Trump Organization's pursuit of a Trump Tower development in Moscow.
On Friday, prosecutors are expected to reveal in a court filing new details about former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's alleged breach of his plea agreement by allegedly lying to federal authorities while cooperating with Mueller's investigation.
Flynn is the first former Trump administration official to be charged in Mueller's investigation. However, he will be the fourth individual overall to be sentenced in a special counsel case.
Most recently, ex-Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos received a 14-day prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators, also while they were probing Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Papadopoulos is currently serving out his time in a Wisconsin prison.
Read the document:
Read More:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllFrom 'Confusing Labyrinth' to Speeding 'Roller Coaster': Uncertainty Reigns in Title IX as Litigators Await Second Trump Admin
6 minute readNew Class Action Points to Fears Over Privacy, Abortions and Fertility
Trending Stories
- 1Judge Denies Sean Combs Third Bail Bid, Citing Community Safety
- 2Republican FTC Commissioner: 'The Time for Rulemaking by the Biden-Harris FTC Is Over'
- 3NY Appellate Panel Cites Student's Disciplinary History While Sending Negligence Claim Against School District to Trial
- 4A Meta DIG and Its Nvidia Implications
- 5Deception or Coercion? California Supreme Court Grants Review in Jailhouse Confession Case
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250