MIKE DROP
Trump pardons Michael Flynn and says ex-National Security Adviser’s prosecution was ‘attempt to subvert 2016 election’
DONALD Trump pardoned Michael Flynn and claimed the ex-National Security Adviser's prosecution was an "attempt to subvert 2016 election."
announced 's clemency in a tweet on Wednesday after reportedly informing confidants of his plans to pardon him in recent days.
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"It is my Great Honor to announce that General has been granted a Full Pardon," Trump . "Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!"
Hours later, his press secretary issued a statement, describing Flynn as an "American hero" who "should never have been prosecuted" based on an independent review by the Department of Justice.
The statement from 's office read: "General Flynn should not require a pardon. He is an innocent man. Even the agents who interviewed General Flynn did not think he was lying.
"Multiple investigations have produced evidence establishing that General Flynn was the victim of partisan government officials engaged in a coordinated attempt to subvert the election of 2016.
"These individuals sought to prevent Donald Trump from being elected to the Presidency, to block him from assuming that office upon his election, to remove him from office after his inauguration, and to undermine his Administration at every turn.
General Flynn was the victim of partisan government officials engaged in a coordinated attempt to subvert the election of 2016.
White House
"After the 2016 election, individuals within the outgoing administration refused to accept the choice the American people had made at the ballot box and worked to undermine the peaceful transition of power.
"These efforts were enabled by a complicit media that willingly published falsehoods and hid inconvenient facts from public view, including with respect to General Flynn. They amounted to a brazen assault on our democracy and a direct attack on our fundamental political values."
The Trump administration added that the pardon served "as a reminder to all of us that we must remain vigilant over those in whom we place our trust and confidence."
"The people who sit atop our intelligence and law enforcement agencies have tremendous power to affect the lives of their fellow citizens," it continued.
"The American people must always take care to scrutinize their actions, to hold them accountable, and to ensure that they use their immense power to uphold the rule of law rather than to harass, persecute, and jail their political opponents in pursuit of partisan political agendas."
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In a statement shared to his Twitter account, Flynn's family said they are "forever appreciative to President Trump for giving back to Michael his freedom in undoing a hideous wrong."
"Let it be heard across this great country and around the world that tyranny will not topple us," their statement said. "Masks will not silence us. Threats will not stop us. Evil will not triumph. We are Americans."
Likewise, Flynn's attorney, Sidney Powell, described the case against her client as "one of the most egregious injustices I've witnessed in American history."
"Enough was enough," she told Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs. "We had passed the point of proving General Flynn's innocence.
"All of the evidence we've gotten since I joined the case shows that, and it was high time that he be exonerated of all these charges."
As the news broke of his pardon earlier, Flynn took to and quoted the Bible saying, "Jeremiah 1:19."
The Bible verse reads, "They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you."
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Joseph J. Flynn, the former national security's adviser's brother, and said, "Thank you Mr President... it has been a long 4 years!
"We will continue to fight with @SidneyPowell1 and @RudyGiuliani to ensure that the American people’s choice for @POTUS is rightfully and legally decided! Happy Thanksgiving to you as well!" wrote Joseph.
Joseph spoke with and said the family is "absolutely thrilled that his four-year political prosecution is over," saying the family could move on with their lives.
"Mike is a free man, that's what matters most to our family. We always knew he was innocent and the Justice Department agreed with us," he added.
Chief of Staff Mike Meadows congratulated Flynn in a , saying, "Congratulations to General Flynn - a well deserved day for an American Patriot.
"What the left did to him and his family these last 4 years must never be allowed to happen again in America," Meadows wrote.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy applauded President Trump's pardon, , "What happened to @GenFlynn was a national disgrace.
"No American should ever be targeted for simply belonging to a certain political party. President @realDonaldTrump is right to pardon the respected three-star general," he added.
But the move was blasted by some, with critics branding the pardon an “undeserved and unprincipled stain on Trump’s rapidly diminishing legacy”.
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“Americans soundly rejected this nonsense when they voted our President Trump. President-Elect will soon take office and restore a measure of honor to the Office of the President.
“Between now and then, we must be vigilant to additional abuses of power, even as we look with hope to days to come,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler blasted said in a .
Congressmember Adam Schiff , "Donald Trump has repeatedly abused the pardon power to reward friends and protect those who covered up for him.
"This time he pardons Michael Flynn, who lied to hide his dealings with the Russians. It's no surprise that Trump would go out as he came in - Crooked to the end," Schiff added.
Trump's pardon is an extraordinary intervention on behalf of an ally who pleaded guilty in 2017 and has spent the last two years fighting to overturn his original plea.
Top have already warned they would consider any effort by Trump to pardon his associates to be an abuse of power, akin to the one the House impeached him for almost a year ago.
Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts during the 2016 general election.
Trump reportedly informed confidants of his plan to pardon Flynn - but made it clear he could still change his mind, sources told on Tuesday.
Flynn, a retired lieutenant general, ran into problems during the presidential transition in 2016.
At the time, Flynn told former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak over the phone not to escalate after 's administration put sanctions on Russia for election interference.
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Flynn lied that he had not talked about the Russian sanctions to Vice President Mike Pence, who conveyed the information to the media.
agents interviewed Flynn in January 2017 regarding a counterintelligence investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Afterward, Flynn admitted he lied to the FBI as part of a plea deal with Robert Mueller, the special counsel who led the investigation into Russian interference in the election and possible links to the Trump campaign.
Flynn’s legal team accused the FBI of setting him up and claimed it was part of an effort to discredit the Russia investigation, and Trump supporters believed the Obama administration unfairly targeted him.
Flynn's attorney, Sidney Powell, told that the president was the only person who could end the judicial "persecution" of Flynn.
“The pardon of Michael Flynn is solely up to the President, but given the corruption we have witnessed in the judiciary and multiple agencies of government executed against General Flynn, this persecution should end,” Powell said.
“The FBI and DOJ have been a national embarrassment for more than 15 years. It was my fervent hope to make our judicial system work to exonerate an innocent man-as all the Left would want were he anyone but Trump or Michael Flynn, but enough is enough.
"This is sick. It’s painfully obvious Judge Sullivan is playing an evil political game with a good man’s life and family. The entire country deserves better,” added Powell.
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Sources told Axios that Flynn is just one of several individuals Trump plans to pardon before he departs from the White House.
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Trump has used his pardon power to help his allies, including commuting the sentence of his longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone earlier this year.
Stone was convicted in 2019 of lying to Congress and witness tampering, also in connection with Mueller’s Russia probe.
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