WASHINGTON: President Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to the FBI about conversations with the Russian ambassador last December during the presidential transition, bringing the special counsel's investigation into the president's inner circle.
Flynn, who appeared in federal court in Washington, acknowledged that he was cooperating with the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, into Russian interference in the 2016 election. His plea agreement suggests that Flynn provided information to prosecutors, which may help advance the inquiry.
The White House had no immediate response on Friday to requests for comment on Flynn's plea. The investigation has dogged Trump's first year in office. While Trump can point to the court documents and say they show no evidence of collusion with Russia, the special counsel's filings so far paint a damning portrait of Trump's associates.
His former campaign chairman, two other campaign aides, and his former national security advisers have now all been charged with felonies. Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to FBI agents about two discussions with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak. Lying to the FBI carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.
In one of the conversations described in court documents, the men discussed an upcoming UN Security Council vote on whether to condemn Israel's building of settlements. At the time, the Obama administration was preparing to allow a Security Council vote on the matter. Mueller's investigators have learned through witnesses and documents that Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu asked the Trump transition team to lobby other countries to help Israel, according to two people briefed on the inquiry.
Investigators have learned that Flynn and Trump's sonin-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, took the lead in those efforts. Mueller's team has emails that show Flynn saying he would work to kill the vote, the people briefed on the matter said. In the other discussion, according to court documents, Flynn asked Kislyak that Moscow refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions announced by the Obama administration that day against Russia over its interference in the presidential election.
And Kislyak told Flynn that Russia "had chosen to moderate its response," the documents said. The following day, President Vladimir Putin of Russia said Moscow would not retaliate against the US in response to the sanctions. Trump praised the Russian leader in a Twitter post. "Great move on delay (by V. Putin) — I always knew he was very smart!" Trump wrote.
The FBI interviewed Flynn at the White House four days after the president was sworn into office. American intelligence agencies had grown so concerned about Flynn's communications with Kislyak and false accounts that he provided to Vice President Mike Pence that the acting attorney general at the time, Sally Yates, warned the White House that its NSA might be compromised by the Russians.
Flynn served just 24 days, resigning on February 13 after it was revealed that he had misled Pence and other top White House officials about his conversations with Kislyak. But after accepting Flynn's resignation, Trump said he thought Flynn was "a very good person" who had been treated poorly.
Even before Trump said he would appoint Flynn as his NSA, questions swirled around Flynn's connections to Russia, particularly a dinner he was paid to attend in Moscow in 2015 when he sat at the same table as Putin. Throughout the campaign, Flynn was avocal advocate of closer relations with Putin. After he was named NSA, he continued to urge closer cooperation between the two nations.
US stocks fell on Friday after reports of Flynn pleading guilty. The Dow Jones industrial average briefly dropped over 300 points before trading 100 points lower. The S&P 500 declined 0.6% after falling more than 1%. The Nasdaq composite lagged, dropping 0.9%.
Flynn, who appeared in federal court in Washington, acknowledged that he was cooperating with the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, into Russian interference in the 2016 election. His plea agreement suggests that Flynn provided information to prosecutors, which may help advance the inquiry.
The White House had no immediate response on Friday to requests for comment on Flynn's plea. The investigation has dogged Trump's first year in office. While Trump can point to the court documents and say they show no evidence of collusion with Russia, the special counsel's filings so far paint a damning portrait of Trump's associates.
His former campaign chairman, two other campaign aides, and his former national security advisers have now all been charged with felonies. Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to FBI agents about two discussions with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak. Lying to the FBI carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.
In one of the conversations described in court documents, the men discussed an upcoming UN Security Council vote on whether to condemn Israel's building of settlements. At the time, the Obama administration was preparing to allow a Security Council vote on the matter. Mueller's investigators have learned through witnesses and documents that Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu asked the Trump transition team to lobby other countries to help Israel, according to two people briefed on the inquiry.
Investigators have learned that Flynn and Trump's sonin-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, took the lead in those efforts. Mueller's team has emails that show Flynn saying he would work to kill the vote, the people briefed on the matter said. In the other discussion, according to court documents, Flynn asked Kislyak that Moscow refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions announced by the Obama administration that day against Russia over its interference in the presidential election.
And Kislyak told Flynn that Russia "had chosen to moderate its response," the documents said. The following day, President Vladimir Putin of Russia said Moscow would not retaliate against the US in response to the sanctions. Trump praised the Russian leader in a Twitter post. "Great move on delay (by V. Putin) — I always knew he was very smart!" Trump wrote.
The FBI interviewed Flynn at the White House four days after the president was sworn into office. American intelligence agencies had grown so concerned about Flynn's communications with Kislyak and false accounts that he provided to Vice President Mike Pence that the acting attorney general at the time, Sally Yates, warned the White House that its NSA might be compromised by the Russians.
Flynn served just 24 days, resigning on February 13 after it was revealed that he had misled Pence and other top White House officials about his conversations with Kislyak. But after accepting Flynn's resignation, Trump said he thought Flynn was "a very good person" who had been treated poorly.
Even before Trump said he would appoint Flynn as his NSA, questions swirled around Flynn's connections to Russia, particularly a dinner he was paid to attend in Moscow in 2015 when he sat at the same table as Putin. Throughout the campaign, Flynn was avocal advocate of closer relations with Putin. After he was named NSA, he continued to urge closer cooperation between the two nations.
US stocks fell on Friday after reports of Flynn pleading guilty. The Dow Jones industrial average briefly dropped over 300 points before trading 100 points lower. The S&P 500 declined 0.6% after falling more than 1%. The Nasdaq composite lagged, dropping 0.9%.
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