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#Flynn

4 incidents

Updated January 20, 2021 Rule of Law
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

First-Term Pardons: Rewarding Allies Who Protected Trump from Prosecution

Trump's end-of-term pardons formed a pattern: the beneficiaries were overwhelmingly personal associates, political allies, or people whose silence or loyalty had protected Trump from prosecutorial pressure. Manafort and Stone had both been convicted in Mueller's investigation. Flynn had pleaded guilty twice to lying to the FBI. Bannon was under indictment for fraud. The pardons rewarded loyalty and silence — establishing that cooperation with investigators would not be protected, while non-cooperation would be.

Sources
5
pardonsrule-of-lawManafortRoger-StoneFlynn
Updated January 20, 2021 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Presidential Pardons: Political Allies and Corrupt Officials Pardoned

Trump issued 143 pardons and commutations, including a final batch of 143 on his last day in office. Analysts documented that a disproportionate share of Trump's pardons went to political allies, relatives of political allies, or individuals whose cases were connected to Trump's political interests. The pardons of Manafort, Stone, Flynn, and Bannon were specifically notable because each had been convicted or charged in connection with conduct related to Trump's political activities, and each received executive clemency. The final day pardons also included Steve Bannon, who was awaiting trial.

Sources
3
pardonscorruptionfirst-termManafortStone
Updated November 25, 2020 Rule of Law
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Michael Flynn: National Security Adviser Lied to FBI, Trump Pressured Comey, Flynn Pardoned

Flynn's conversations with Kislyak on December 29, 2016 — the day President Obama announced sanctions against Russia for election interference — were intercepted by U.S. intelligence. Flynn told Pence the conversations had not touched on sanctions; Pence publicly repeated that claim. After the Washington Post reported Flynn had indeed discussed sanctions, Flynn resigned. On January 27, 2017, Trump told Comey at a one-on-one dinner that he hoped Comey could let the Flynn investigation go. Comey did not drop it. Trump fired Comey on May 9, 2017. Flynn pleaded guilty December 1, 2017. His cooperation with Mueller provided significant intelligence about the transition period. Trump pardoned Flynn in November 2020, after Flynn had withdrawn his guilty plea.

Sources
4
FlynnComeyfirst-termrule-of-lawMueller
Updated December 1, 2017 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Michael Flynn: Turkey Lobbying Cover-Up, Foreign Agent, NSA Lies to FBI

Flynn was paid over $530,000 by a Turkish-controlled entity while serving as one of Trump's most prominent campaign surrogates in 2016 — work he initially did not disclose and later retroactively registered as foreign agent activity. He lied to FBI investigators about his December 2016 contacts with Russian Ambassador Kislyak, in which he discussed sanctions that the Obama administration had just imposed on Russia for election interference. Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements in December 2017, cooperated with Mueller, then attempted to withdraw his plea, and was ultimately pardoned by Trump in November 2020.

Sources
4
FlynnTurkeyFARARussiafirst-term