Retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn has promised “full cooperation” in the special counsel’s Russia investigation and, according to a confidant, is prepared to testify that Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians, initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria.
The stunning turn comes as Flynn pleaded guilty to one count of lying to the FBI about his back-channel negotiations with the Russian ambassador – talks that occurred before Trump took office. The special counsel made the plea agreement public Friday morning.
The confidant provided ABC News with new details on Friday about Trump’s instructions to Flynn. During the campaign, Trump asked Flynn to be one of a small group of close advisors charged with improving relations in Russia and other hot spots. The source said Trump phoned Flynn shortly after the election to explicitly ask him to “serve as point person on Russia,” and to reach out personally to Russian officials to develop strategies to jointly combat ISIS.
The confidant told ABC News that Flynn felt abandoned by Trump in recent weeks, and told friends about the decision to make the plea deal within the last 24 hours as he grew increasingly concerned about crippling legal costs he would face if he continued to contest the charges.
“Flynn is very angry,” the confidant told ABC News Friday. “He will cooperate truthfully on any question they ask him.”
Now this is problematic not only because incoming administrations are not supposed to interfere with the current administrations foreign relations, but also becasue Trump has declared that he did not personally instruct Flynn to start these talks.
Remember the official explanation for Flynn being let go was that he lied to Mike Pence about these talks with Russia, but if he was told to conduct them by Trump that excuse falls apart.
Most recently the White House has claimed that Flynn's conversations with the Russians were signed off on by the Obama Administration.
Courtesy of The Hill:
“They are saying here at the White House that Flynn’s conversations with Sergey Kisylak were quote ‘authorized’ by the Obama administration,” CNN correspondent Jim Acosta said.
“We should point out, that is something that we have not heard before in terms of a defense from this White House,” he said.
Yeah, well that's complete bullshit since Obama himself warned Trump not to hire Michael Flynn.
This morning a reporter managed to get Trump's response to Michael Flynn's plea deal.
It's adorable how hard he is trying to make it seem like all of this is not killing him.JUST IN: President Trump makes first comments after Michael Flynn's guilty plea.— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 2, 2017
Reporter: "Are you concerned about what Mike Flynn might tell the special counsel?"
Trump: "No, I'm not." http://pic.twitter.com/UlDrdPMU2S
Source http://ift.tt/2kiFfU8
