A lawyer for Michael Flynn said Tuesday former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein authorized Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Flynn’s son, Michael Flynn Jr.
Sidney Powell, Flynn’s lawyer, made the revelation in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity while discussing developments in Flynn’s case. Powell argued in federal court Tuesday that charges against the former national security adviser should be dismissed due to “egregious misconduct” on the part of prosecutors.
“We know that Mr. Mueller got a letter from Mr. Rosenstein that allowed him to target Michael Flynn Jr., and there was significant pressure to enter a guilty plea while they were hiding all the evidence that showed he had not been an agent of Russia, that there were no Logan Act violations,” Powell told Hannity.
Hannity asked Powell about the possibility that Flynn took a plea deal in order to protect his son from being prosecuted. Powell did not confirm Hannity’s scenario, but suggested it was possible.
“When you put together the fact that Mr. Mueller got the letter authorizing him to target Michael Flynn Jr., and they had seized Michael Flynn Jr.’s computers and electronic devices and those things, it’s not too hard to imagine that that might have happened,” she said.
“I don’t want to speak now to thing that are not a matter of public record, but stay tuned because more and more will become apparent as we proceed through the litigation.”
Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller to serve as special counsel on May 17, 2017. In an Aug. 2, 2017 memo, Rosenstein said that Mueller could investigate “four sets of allegations involving Flynn.” Rosenstein sent Mueller another memo on Oct. 20, 2017 authorizing the special counsel to investigate several other individuals, including former Trump associates Roger Stone, Rick Gates, and Michael Cohen. The memo identified two other investigative targets, but their names are redacted in the Mueller report.
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Powell, who has been a vocal critic of the Mueller probe, said during a court hearing on Tuesday that Flynn is seeking a dismissal of his case due to “egregious misconduct” by prosecutors handling his case. Powell said that prosecutors failed to provide potentially exculpatory material about Flynn to his previous defense team.
Flynn, who served as national security adviser to President Trump, pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 2017 to making false statements to the FBI during a Jan. 24, 2017 White House interview. Flynn admitted that he falsely denied having conversations in December 2016 with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak regarding U.S. sanctions against Russia.
Flynn was to be sentenced on Dec. 18, 2018. But after Judge Emmet Sullivan excoriated the retired lieutenant general, Flynn decided to delay sentencing until after he finished his cooperation with the federal government.
As part of his plea agreement, Flynn met repeatedly with the special counsel as part of the Russia probe. He also cooperated with prosecutors in Virginia in a case against his former business partner, Bijan Rafiekian.
Rafiekian was an executive at Flynn’s defense intelligence firm, Flynn Intel Group (FIG). Michael Flynn Jr. was also an executive at the company.
Flynn Jr. faced no charges in the special counsel’s investigation, or in the Virginia case. Rafiekian was convicted on June 23 on charges that he acted secretly as a foreign agent of Turkey while working for one of FIG’s clients. Flynn and Flynn Jr. were tentatively scheduled to testify as government witnesses at Rafiekian’s trial, but they were never called to the stand.
Powell said that she will push for a dismissal of charges against Flynn rather than try to withdraw from the guilty plea.
“The plan, at least right now anyway, is not to withdraw the guilty plea, per se, but to have the entire prosecution dismissed because of egregious misconduct,” she told Hannity.
Reached for comment Wednesday, Powell told The Daily Caller News Foundation she was unable to say more about the case.
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