As Part Of Plea, Michael Flynn Says Trump Team Told Him To Reach Out To Russians
Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to a charge of lying to the FBI this morning as part of a plea deal, sending shockwaves across Washington. Even more stunning, are details Flynn revealed as part of the deal.
BuzzFeed has obtained the statement of offense, signed by Flynn, where these shocking allegations are made:
- Flynn lied to the FBI while working at the White House, saying he did not ask the Russian ambassador to temper Russia's response to new sanctions.
- Flynn lied when he told the FBI that he did not recall a conversation where the Russian ambassador acknowledged that it acted on Flynn's request.
- Flynn strategized with top transition officials who were at Mar-a-Lago about the phone call with the Russian ambassador before it happened.
- Immediately after the call with the Russian ambassador, Flynn reported back to top transition officials at Mar-a-Lago.
- In the same interview with the FBI, Flynn lied about his communications with other countries (before Trump's inauguration) about a UN Security Council vote on ending the construction of Israeli settlements, telling agents he didn't ask countries to vote a specific way.
- Flynn was directly ordered by a senior transition official to contact members of the security council to ascertain which way they would vote, and to attempt to persuade countries to delay or defeat the measure.
- Flynn specifically requested that the Russian ambassador ensure the measure was defeated.
- Flynn lied about his knowledge about the Turkish government's involvement in his company's project aimed at boosting Turkish-American business relations.
Flynn was charged after he reportedly lied to FBI investigators about his contacts with Russia, specifically regarding an exchange in December 2016 about US sanctions:
Flynn admitted making false statements to the FBI about asking the ambassador in late December to "refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions that the United States had imposed on Russia that same day." Flynn also told authorities he did not recall the ambassador "subsequently telling him that Russia has chosen to moderate its response to those sanctions as a result of his request," according to a court filing. That would suggest there was a second, previously unknown contact between Flynn and Kislyak.
Flynn entered a guilty plea in federal court in Washington, DC on Friday morning. He released this official statement:
Update, 12/1, 2:16 PM: BuzzFeed News reports that Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, is the unnamed Trump transition official who called Michael Flynn and ordered him to contact members of the UN Security Council to try and slow a vote that would ban Israeli settlements. BuzzFeed says it obtained this information from a person in the room with Flynn when he received the call.
Update, 12/1, 8:30 PM: ABC has corrected an earlier report which stated that Trump told Flynn to contact Russia during the campaign — it happened during the transition, after Trump's election:
Update, 12/2, 7:13 PM: Brian Ross has been suspended for four months without pay as a consequence of his mistaken report.