Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office is expected to file a sentencing memo for former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn on Tuesday, which will contain the special counsel’s recommended sentence. The memo is also likely to lay out the extent of Flynn’s cooperation with the government after he admitted last December that he lied to the FBI about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Beyond illuminating the extent of Flynn’s cooperation with Mueller, the memo could provide a window into what the special counsel has found so far in its probe, which began in May 2017.
Flynn, who previously served as the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and was a prominent supporter of President Trump during the presidential campaign, was named national security adviser during the transition. In December 2016, before Mr. Trump took office, Flynn contacted Kislyak twice, first to encourage Russia to block a United Nations Security Council resolution against the settlements in Israel. He again contacted Kislyak after President Barack Obama announced sanctions against Russia for interfering in the election, urging the Russian government not to retaliate, according to court documents. The day after Flynn spoke to Kislyak, Russian President Vladimir Putin released a statement saying that Russia would not retaliate to the sanctions.
In early 2017, news leaked that Flynn had contact with Kislyak during the transition. Vice President-elect Mike Pence told “Face the Nation” that Flynn and Kislyak had not discussed sanctions. Shortly after Mr. Trump took office, FBI agents visited Flynn, and he denied discussing sanctions with the Russian ambassador, and denied asking Russia to block the Security Council vote.
Acting Attorney General Sally Yates warned the White House that Flynn had lied to the FBI, but the president declined to take action for weeks. On February 13, 2017, after the Washington Post reported that Flynn and Kislyak discussed sanctions, Mr. Trump fired Flynn.
When Mueller was appointed to be special counsel in May, he looked into Flynn’s discussions with Kislyak, as well as his foreign business dealings. Flynn eventually cut a deal and agreed to cooperate with the investigation.
In the year since Flynn began cooperating with Mueller, there have been several other developments in the special counsel investigation. Former Trump campaign official Rick Gates agreed to cooperate with the probe in February. The Justice Department indicted several Russian operatives for spreading political disinformation on social media. Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was been indicted and found guilty of financial crimes in August. He later also pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of justice and said he would cooperate with the government to avoid a second trial. Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations in August and lying to Congress in November.
Jeff Pegues, Paula Reid, Julia Kimani Burnham, Clare Hymes and Robert Legare contributed to this report.
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