House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler called on the Department of Justice inspector general to investigate the dismissal of charges against President Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
“The decision to drop the charges against General Flynn is outrageous. The evidence against General Flynn is overwhelming. He pleaded guilty to lying to investigators. And now, a politicized and thoroughly corrupt Department of Justice is going to let the president’s crony simply walk away,” the New York Democrat said in a statement Thursday.
“We are not supposed to get special treatment because we are friends with the president or refused to cooperate with federal investigators on his behalf. The decision to overrule the special counsel is without precedent and requires immediate explanation.”
Nadler also noted he plans to reschedule “as soon as possible” a hearing with Attorney General William Barr that was postponed in late March because of the coronavirus.
Flynn served as Trump’s national security adviser for less than a month, resigning when it was revealed that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States. Flynn later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts.
He cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, but after hiring a new legal team last year, Flynn claimed he was set up by the FBI and declared his innocence. He filed to withdraw his guilty plea after the Justice Department asked the judge to sentence him to up to six months in prison — though afterward, the department said probation would also be appropriate.
In a court filing Thursday, the Justice Department moved to drop the case, saying the “continued prosecution of this case would not serve the interests of justice.”
Trump repeatedly floated a possible pardon throughout the case.
