A judge has fiercely criticised Michael Flynn, Donald Trump‘s short-lived national security advisor, as he postponed his sentencing for lying to the FBI over contact with Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election campaign.
US District Judge Emmet Sullivan said Flynn had "arguably" sold out his country by lying to federal investigators in 2017, adding, "All along, you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the National Security Adviser to the President of the United States."
The sentencing was postponed pending a status report in March, despite Special Counsel Robert Mueller suggesting Flynn receive little to no jail time due to his cooperation in the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Hello and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the sentencing of Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn after he admitted lying to the FBI over contact with Russia during the presidential transition.
The former general, 60, plead guilty to lying to the FBI on 24 January 2017 - four days after Mr Trump's inauguration - over calls he had had with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, a month earlier, understood to relate to sanctions imposed by the outgoing Obama administration and how Moscow might respond.
His lobbying work in Turkey was also under scrutiny, as were discussions he had with Mr Kislyak and officials from other countries about an impending vote on a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Mr Flynn was subsequently fired for misleading vice-president Mike Pence on the issue, his tenure in his new job lasting just 24 days, making history as the shortest ever served by a national security adviser.
Although he could face up to six months in jail, he is not expected to be sent to prison at today's sentencing hearing as special counsel Robert Mueller reports Mr Flynn has since co-operated fully with prosecutors investigating possible connections between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
Last night, Mr Mueller published portions of the FBI’s interviews with Mr Flynn at the request of the judge hearing the case after the Trump camp alleged the bureau had sought to entrap him.
Mr Flynn's lawyers suggested that investigators discouraged him from having an attorney present during the interview at the start of last year and never informed him it was a crime to lie.
Prosecutors shot back, “He does not need to be warned it is a crime to lie to federal agents to know the importance of telling them the truth. The defendant undoubtedly was aware, in light of his 'many years' working with the FBI, that lying to the FBI carries serious consequences.”
The defendant's lawyers also insinuated that Mr Flynn deserves credit for not publicly seizing on the fact that FBI officials involved in the investigation later came under scrutiny themselves. Former deputy director Andrew McCabe, who contacted him to arrange the interview, was fired this year for what the Justice Department said was a lack of candor over a news media leak.
Peter Strzok, one of the two agents who interviewed Michael Flynn, was removed from Robert Mueller's team and later fired for trading anti-Trump texts with another FBI official.
Here's The Independent's Andrew Buncombe with a full report on last night's development.
Trump’s national security adviser Michael Flynn lied about his contact with Russian ambassador, Mueller sentencing memo confirms
Flynn's lawyers claimed he had been entrappedThe filing of the memo came on the day two of Mr Flynn’s business associates from the Flynn Intel Group, the intelligence company he founded after leaving the military, were charged with illegally lobbying for Turkey as part of a campaign to pressure Washington to expel Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Bijan Kian and Ekim Alptekin were accused in an indictment of conspiring to “covertly and unlawfully” influence US public opinion and politicians, while concealing the fact that the Turkish government was controlling their work.
Michael Flynn's former business partner charged over conspiracy to act as foreign government agent
US federal prosecutors have charged associates of former national security adviser Michael Flynn for illegally lobbying for the extradition of a Turkish national who has been a frequent critic of the Turkish governmentHere's The Independent's Chris Stevenson with some analysis on the speed with which Mr Mueller is racing co-operating witnesses through to sentencing, from George Papadopoulos to Michael Cohen.
Mueller's sentencing of Trump associates means his Russia probe may be ending
Analysis: To jettison those who were in Trump’s close circle suggests the special counsel may have his case laid out alreadyAnd here's Chris again on the dangerous game the president is playing in trying to ignore Mr Mueller's pursuit of his associates.
Probes involving Trump associates are becoming difficult for the president to ignore
Analysis: As people like his former long-term lawyer Michael Cohen refuse to fade away, the White House may need a new strategy for dealing with themToday's hearing will take place at the US District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington at 11am EST (or 4pm GMT).
Judge Emmet Sullivan will oversee today's proceedings. He sat in judgement of the Justice Department's botched prosecution of now-deceased Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, initially indicted on corruption charges.
He dismissed that case after prosecutors admitted they withheld exculpatory evidence, prompting the judge to say that in nearly 25 years on the bench, "I've never seen anything approaching the mishandling and misconduct that I've seen in this case."
In an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal last year, Mr Sullivan said the case inspired him to explicitly remind prosecutors in every criminal case before him of their obligation to provide defendants with favorable evidence. He says he has encouraged colleagues to do the same.
For his part, President Trump has made no secret that he regards Mr Mueller's investigation into his campaign as a "witch hunt" and has continued to lash out at prosecutors he sees as biased against him and those who help them.
He's shown continued sympathy for Mr Flynn, however, calling him a "great person" and asserting erroneously last week that the FBI said he didn't lie. A huge contrast to his treatment of Michael Cohen, whom he has dismissed bitterly as a turncoat and a "rat".
New York attorney Preet Bharara, who was fired by President Trump in 2017 after refusing a request by then-attorney general that Jeff Sessions he and 45 other Obama-era legislators resign, makes his feelings on today's sentencing abundantly clear.
The president is up and tweeting:
Beyond President Trump, the reaction on Twitter to Michael Flynn's upcoming sentencing is divided sharply.
Some are praising him for his military service and wishing him "Gods protection and for all that is hidden in darkness to be exposed on the light" while others are sharing memes of Benedict Arnold, who likewise, "had a great military career with the Army before he switched sides and went to work for a foreign power".
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Elsewhere in the Russia investigation, studies carried out on behalf of the Senate Intelligence Committee suggests bots linked to Russia's Internet Research Agency strategically targeted black voters on social media during the 2016 campaign to suppress Democratic turnout at the polls.
Here's The Indy's Chris Riotta with more:
Russia targeted African-Americans in attempts to suppress Democratic voter turnout, Senate report says
Two explosive reports detail how Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to support Donald TrumpOn Fox News, commentator and former New Jersey superior court judge Andrew Napolitano said he believes a grand jury subpoena for Mr Trump is now a real possibility.
“I think that Bob Mueller knows that he needs to lock the president in to a version of events before he takes the next step, whatever the next step is, whether it’s an indictment or referral,” he told host Shepherd Smith.
Here's Tom Embury-Dennis with more:
Fox News' Judge Napolitano says Trump could be indicted by Mueller: 'There's ample evidence'
'You can’t let a person go scot-free because they happen to be in the White House,' legal analyst saysAside from Robert Mueller, one of the biggest thorns in Donald Trump's side has been the recent satire boom at his expense.
The president has been particularly incensed by Alec Baldwin's impersonation of him on Saturday Night Live (SNL), most recently at the weekend when the show parodied Frank Capra's classic Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life (1946) to imagine a world without him.
This time last year, cast member Mikey Day was uncanny as Michael Flynn, presented as a Jacob Marley figure in a parody of A Christmas Carol.
Here's a history of SNL's treatment of US presidents since it began in 1975.
How SNL has portrayed US presidents, from Gerald Ford and George W Bush to Donald Trump
Alec Baldwin continues to cause irritation in the Oval OfficeAfter using his social media platforms only this morning to bypass the evils of the "MSM" and wish Michael Flynn good luck in court, Donald Trump is now turning his ire on Facebook and Twitter.
Both, like SNL, are apparently "biased towards the Dems".
As we await Michael Flynn's sentencing, former FBI director James Comey - acrimoniously sacked by President Trump - has tackled the Republican Party for failing to shield the instruments of government from the whims of the Oval Office and for being in thrall to Fox News.
Andrew Buncombe has more:
Comey attacks Republicans on live TV for failing to protect FBI from Trump
President has referred to elements of the bureau as 'a cancer'The president's handling of Robert Mueller's investigation is apparently alienating his core support base, with 72 per cent believing Mr Trump has been dishonest over his administration's ties to Russia, according to a new poll from CNN.
Here's a full report from Chris Baynes:
Trump supporters turning on president over Mueller's Russia investigation, poll shows
Seventy-two per cent of supporters believe president has been dishonest about probe into 2016 electionMichael Flynn is expected to arrive in court at 11:00am local time, and could very well walk out a free man thanks to his reportedly extensive cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team of federal prosecutors.
Despite the president’s claims, Michael Flynn was adamant he had not been manipulated into submitting his plea of guilty voluntarily.
During his initial plea hearing, the judge asked the ex-national security adviser, “Are you entering this plea of guilty voluntarily and of your own free will?”
“I am,” Flynn replied.
“Are you entering this plea of guilty because you are guilty and for no other reason?” the court asked.
“Yes, Your Honor,” Flynn replied.
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