A CNN legal analyst asserted the Justice Department is setting the stage for President Trump to pardon his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who is fighting to dismiss the government’s case against him.
Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to federal investigators about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. After changing his legal representation, Flynn has since declared his innocence and moved to dismiss the case.
Attorney General William Barr ordered a review of Flynn’s prosecution earlier this year, which is being led by U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri Jeffrey Jensen. Lawyers for Flynn claim “stunning” new evidence from that review will be revealed to the public this week that will show the retired lieutenant general was “set up” by the FBI.
“The Justice Department handles tens of thousands of cases every year. The fact they are so laser-focused on this one is in itself, I think, a bit eyebrow-raising,” CNN analyst Elie Honig told the Dan Abrams Show on Tuesday.
Honig said he suspects Barr is “trying to soften it up a little bit for Trump to step in.”
“I think we’re going to see sometime soon Bill Barr’s DOJ make some kind of finding or concession that something was done wrong in the prosecution of Michael Flynn, that some evidence was withheld,” Honig said.
“I think Barr is trying to tenderize it a little bit so that either the DOJ will join in a motion to give Michael Flynn his guilty plea back to undo his guilty plea, or even just by making this finding … makes it much more palatable for Trump to swoop in” and pardon Flynn, he continued.
Trump said last month he was seriously considering a pardon for his former national security adviser.
The president fueled speculation about an impending pardon when he retweeted a post from this weekend that said Flynn will be “exonerated this week.”
