Thomson Reuters
- Former national security adviser Mike Flynn may be cooperating or negotiating with prosecutors after Flynn’s legal team reportedly told President Donald Trump’s counsel that they could not discuss the special counsel’s investigation.
- Flynn’s legal team was previously sharing information on the Russia investigation with Trump’s counsel.
Former national security adviser Mike Flynn may soon be cooperating or negotiating with prosecutors, after Flynn’s legal team reportedly told President Donald Trump’s counsel they could no longer discuss special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, the New York Times reported Thursday.
Flynn’s counsel was reportedly disclosing information on Mueller’s investigation into the potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, until they notified Trump’s legal team of the stop, four sources involved in the case said to The Times.
Withholding information from Trump’s counsel does not necessarily mean Flynn is cooperating with Mueller’s investigation, given that lawyers sometimes do so when they begin the negotiation process with prosecutors, The Times reported. Sharing information amongst defense lawyers during investigations is also common, though the defendant’s counsel must stop when a conflict of interest is raised, the report continued.
“This is not entirely unexpected,” said Jay Sekulow, one of Trump’s attorneys, in a Washington Post report Thursday. “No one should draw the conclusion that this means anything about General Flynn cooperating against the president.”
Previously, Flynn reportedly told the FBI and investigators that he would submit himself to be interviewed in exchange for immunity, according to officials cited in a Wall Street Journal report in March.
Robert Kelner, an attorney representing Flynn, reportedly made the offer to the FBI and the intelligence committees in both the House and Senate in order to avoid what he called “unfair prosecution.” No officials accepted Flynn’s terms at the time, according to The Journal.
Flynn and his son, Michael Flynn Jr., are believed to be at the center of Mueller’s widening investigation, in which Mueller is believed to have enough evidence to indict the two. Mueller is believed to be shifting his focus towards Flynn after a federal grand jury indicted Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort in October, on various counts related to his work as a foreign agent and other financial crimes.
