PoliticoMichael Flynn seeking to withdraw guilty plea
- Lawyers for the former national security adviser contend the US government undermined its own deal
- Comes two weeks before Flynn is supposed to face his long-delayed sentencing
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Josh Gerstein on politico.com on January 14, 2020.
Former national security adviser Michael Flynn – the only Trump administration official to face criminal prosecution in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation – is seeking to withdraw the guilty plea he offered more than two years ago to a charge of making false statements to the FBI.
The move, made just two weeks before Flynn is supposed to face his long-delayed sentencing, follows Flynn’s shift to more confrontational defence lawyers about half a year ago and an ensuing, acrimonious showdown with prosecutors over the retired US Army general’s planned testimony in a related case. T
Flynn’s current lead counsel, Sidney Powell, said the government essentially blew up the plea deal by retreating from an earlier statement that Flynn deserved leniency because of his “substantial assistance” to the government with various investigations it was pursuing.
