Vice President Mike Pence said he would be glad to see Micheal Flynn rejoin the government after the criminal case against him was dropped.
“I think Gen. Michael Flynn is an American patriot,” Pence told Axios on HBO in an interview set to air Monday. “And for my part, I’d be happy to see Michael Flynn again.”
Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, was charged with and plead guilty to lying to federal investigators in 2017 about his contacts with agents of the Russian government. Newly unsealed documents in Flynn’s case revealed FBI agents discussed the Army lieutenant general’s possible prosecution prior to interviewing him, leading Flynn’s lawyers to claim he was set up.
The new revelations also prompted the Justice Department, under Attorney General William Barr, to drop Flynn’s case, saying the federal government is not convinced Flynn’s FBI interview “was conducted with a legitimate investigative basis.”
“The Government has determined, pursuant to the Principles of Federal Prosecution and based on an extensive review and careful consideration of the circumstances, that continued prosecution of this case would not serve the interests of justice,” the department said in a motion moving to dismiss the case.
Trump and his allies in government cheered the move and used Flynn’s apparent exoneration to highlight what they called a “deep state” in the highest levels of federal law enforcement that sought to undermine Trump before and after he was elected.
“So I’m very happy for Gen. Flynn. He was a great warrior, and he still is a great warrior. Now, in my book, he’s an even greater warrior. What happened to him should never happen again,” Trump reacted to the news. “He was an innocent man. He is a great gentleman. He was targeted by the Obama administration, and he was targeted in order to try and take down a president. And what they’ve done is a disgrace, and I hope a big price is going to be paid.”
The president has also said he would “certainly consider” bringing Flynn back into the administration.
