DOJ Settles Flynn Lawsuit for $1.2M    03/26 06:33

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Justice Department has settled for roughly $1.2 
million a lawsuit from Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser to 
President Donald Trump who pleaded guilty during the Republican's first term to 
lying to the FBI about his conversations with a top Russian diplomat and was 
later pardoned.

   Court papers filed Wednesday do not reveal the settlement amount, but a 
person familiar with the matter, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition 
of anonymity to disclose nonpublic information, confirmed the total as about 
$1.2 million.

   The settlement resolves a 2023 lawsuit in which Flynn sought at least $50 
million and asserted that the criminal case against him amounted to a malicious 
prosecution. It also represents a stark turnabout in position for a Justice 
Department that during the Biden administration had pressed a judge to dismiss 
Flynn's complaint. Attorney General Pam Bondi, a former personal lawyer for the 
president, has openly criticized the Russia investigation in which Flynn was 
charged and the Justice Department in the last year has opened investigations 
into former officials who participated in that inquiry.

   The Justice Department cast the settlement as an "important step in 
redressing" what it says was a "historic injustice" of the Russia investigation 
that shadowed Trump for much of his first term.

   "This Department of Justice will continue to pursue accountability at all 
levels for this wrongdoing. Such weaponization of the federal government must 
never be allowed to happen again," a spokesperson said.

   In a separate statement, Flynn said: "Nothing can fully compensate for the 
hell that my family and I have endured over these many years -- the relentless 
attacks, the destruction of reputations, the financial ruin, and the profound 
personal toll inflicted upon us all. No amount of money or formal resolution 
can erase the pain caused by a prosecution that should never have been brought."

   The settlement is the latest turn in the long-running legal saga involving 
Flynn, one of six Trump associates charged as part of special counsel Robert 
Mueller's investigation into potential ties between Russia and Trump's 2016 
presidential campaign. That investigation found Russia interfered in the 
election on Trump's behalf and that the Trump campaign eagerly welcomed the 
help, but it ultimately found insufficient evidence of a criminal conspiracy.

   Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general who vigorously campaigned at 
Trump's side, served for weeks as his first national security adviser before 
being pushed out of his position. He remained a Trump ally even after agreeing 
to cooperate with Mueller's team. He was pardoned in the final weeks of the 
president's first term.

   Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI when he said he 
had not discussed with the Russian envoy, Sergey Kislyak, sanctions that the 
outgoing Obama administration had just imposed on Russia for election 
interference. During that conversation, Flynn advised that Russia be 
"even-keeled" in response to the punitive measures, and assured him "we can 
have a better conversation" about relations between the countries after Trump 
became president.

   The conversation alarmed the FBI, which at the time was investigating 
whether the Trump campaign and Russia had coordinated to sway the election. In 
addition, White House officials were stating publicly that Flynn and Kislyak 
had not discussed sanctions, which the FBI knew was untrue.

   Flynn was ousted from his position in February 2017 after news broke that 
Obama administration officials had warned the White House that Flynn had indeed 
discussed sanctions with Kislyak and was vulnerable to blackmail. He pleaded 
guilty months later to a false statement charge.

   But Flynn later sought to withdraw his guilty plea, saying federal 
prosecutors had acted in "bad faith" and broken their end of the bargain when 
they sought prison time for him.

   The Justice Department in 2020 moved to dismiss the case, asserting that the 
FBI had no basis to interview Flynn about Kislyak and that any statements he 
made during the interview were not material to the FBI's broader 
counterintelligence probe.

   Flynn was pardoned by Trump in November 2020, ending the court case and the 
legal wrangling.

   In his lawsuit, Flynn maintained his innocence and said he was targeted by 
the "virulently anti-Trump leadership" of the FBI's Russia investigation. He 
contended that investigators pursued him despite knowing there was no evidence 
of a crime and coerced his guilty plea.

   "He was falsely branded as a traitor to his country, lost at least tens of 
millions of dollars of business opportunities and future lifetime earning 
potential, was maliciously prosecuted and spent substantial monies in his own 
defense," says the lawsuit, adding that Flynn will continue to suffer "mental 
and emotional pain."