President Donald Trump today again addressed the guilty plea by his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, saying he feels “badly” for him.
“Well, I feel badly for General Flynn. I feel very badly. He’s led a very strong life. I feel very badly,” Trump said when reporters asked about Flynn on the White House South Lawn.
He also compared Flynn to Hillary Clinton, saying Flynn is receiving far worse treatment for what Trump described as similar actions by Clinton.
“I will say this, Hillary Clinton lied many times to the FBI. Nothing happened to her. Flynn lied, and they destroyed his life,” Trump said.
“Hillary Clinton, on the Fourth of July weekend, went to the FBI, not under oath. It was the most incredible thing anyone’s ever seen. She’s lied many times; nothing happened to her,” he alleged. “Flynn lied and it’s like they ruined his life. It’s very unfair.”
Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI Friday.
As for Clinton, the FBI concluded in July 2016 that charges were not warranted against her, saying agents had found no evidence that she knowingly sent or received classified information on her personal email server. FBI officials looked into the matter again in October of that year, just days before the election, and then announced Nov. 6 that they saw no reason to change their July decision.
Trump’s comments about Flynn’s guilty plea were not his first.
Asked by a reporter Saturday whether he was concerned about what Flynn might tell special counsel Robert Mueller, Trump said, “No, I’m not. What has been shown is no collusion, no collusion. There has been absolutely no collusion.”
“So we’re very happy and, frankly, last night was one of the big nights,” he added, apparently referring to the Senate’s overnight passage of the GOP tax overhaul.
Asked then whether he still stood behind Flynn, Trump said: “We’ll see what happens.”
Trump also posted a tweet Saturday about Flynn that has raised questions, in which Trump wrote he “had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI.”
Trump personal lawyer John Dowd told ABC News that he was the one who drafted the tweet. A source, who corroborated that Dowd had written the tweet, called it “sloppy.”
