Federal prosecutors on Friday revealed the full transcript of the voicemail a personal attorney for President Donald Trump left with Michael Flynn's lawyer after the former national security adviser withdrew from a joint defense agreement, a signal that he had agreed to cooperate with the special counsel's investigation.

Much of the transcript of the Nov. 22, 2017, voicemail left with Covington & Burling's Robert Kelner had previously been disclosed in the 448-page report prepared by Special Counsel Robert Mueller III and his team.

In their filing Friday, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, prosecutors confirmed that John Dowd, at the time a private attorney for the president, left the voicemail with Flynn's defense lawyer. Dowd would later resign, in 2018, from the Trump defense team.

“Hey, Rob, uhm, this is John again. Uh, maybe, I-I-I'm-I'm sympathetic; I understand your situation, but let me see if I can't … state it in … starker terms. If you have … and it wouldn't surprise me if you've gone on to make a deal with, and, uh, work with the government, uh … I understand that you can't join the joint defense; so that's one thing,” according to the transcript.

“If, on the other hand, we have, there's information that … implicates the president, then we've got a national security issue, or maybe a national security issue, I don't know … some issue, we got to-we got to deal with, not only for the president, but for the country. So … uh … you know, then-then, you know, we need some kind of heads up. Um, just for the sake of … protecting all our interests, if we can, without you having to give up any … confidential information. So, uhm, and if it's the former, then, you know, remember what we've always said about the president and his feelings toward Flynn and, that still remains, but—Well, in any event, uhm, let me know, and, uh, I appreciate your listening and taking the time.”

Ending the voicemail, Trump's lawyer said, “Thanks, Pal.”

The special counsel examined the halting voicemail as part of its inquiry into whether the president sought to obstruct the probe, perhaps by dangling a pardon for Flynn, a retired Army general who served for three weeks as Trump's national security adviser.

Kelner, according to Mueller's report, returned Dowd's call the next day. “Flynn's attorneys reiterated that they were no longer in a position to share information under any sort of privilege,” according to Mueller's report. “According to Flynn's attorneys, the president's personal counsel was indignant and vocal in his disagreement.”

Citing a March 2018 interview with Kelner, Mueller's team said the president's personal lawyer interpreted statements from Flynn's defense as a “reflection of Flynn's hostility towards the president and that he planned to inform his client of that interpretation.”

The Mueller report stated that Flynn's attorneys, after the call from Dowd, “understood that statement to be an attempt to make them reconsider their position because the president's personal counsel believed that Flynn would be disturbed to know that such a message would be conveyed to the president.”

Emmet Sullivan Judge Emmet Sullivan, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying about his interactions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the Trump transition period, and he was set for sentencing late last year.

But his sentencing was unexpectedly delayed when U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan raised the specter he might sentence Flynn to prison, lambasting him for lying to the FBI. Sullivan suggested that Flynn first complete the cooperation that prosecutors had underscored in recommending that he receive no jail time.

Kelner told Sullivan he was “prepared to take your honor up on the suggestion of delaying sentencing.” Kelner said the delay would allow Flynn to “eke out the last modicum of cooperation” in his deal to assist prosecutors in a separate case in Alexandria, Virginia, federal court against Bijan Rafiekian, a former business partner accused of acting as an unregistered agent for Turkey in the United States. Rafiekian has pleaded not guilty and is set to stand trial in July.

In March, Flynn requested that Sullivan refrain from setting a new sentencing date, saying “there may be additional cooperation” for him to provide. Prosecutors in the special counsel's office said Flynn could testify in the Virginia case if it proceeds to trial. But “in the government's view his cooperation is otherwise complete,” prosecutors said in a court filing.