The federal judge who was ready to sentence former national security adviser Michael Flynn for lying to the FBI said Tuesday he would delay that decision after learning Flynn might still be cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller.
Flynn’s lawyer, Robert Kelner, said he wanted to postpone the sentencing because their client may be asked to testify in a case brought against two of his former business associates in Virginia. The special counsel’s office had previously indicated in court Tuesday that Flynn’s cooperation led to that indictment.
The judge, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, agreed to a delay.
Brandon Van Grack, a prosecutor with the special counsel’s team, indicated prior to the judge’s ruling that it “remains a possibility” that Flynn will continue to cooperate with the federal government.
“The more you assist the government, the more you arguably help yourself at the time of sentencing,” Sullivan said in response.
Van Grack said Flynn had already “provided the vast majority of cooperation that could be considered” and cited the charged unsealed against two men related to their lobbying on behalf of Turkey. Flynn gave “substantial assistance” to the Eastern District of Virginia’s U.S. Attorney’s office, said Van Grack.
A status report in the case is due March 13. Sullivan’s last words to the court were: “Happy holidays,” a turnaround from when he used the early portion of the hearing to berate Flynn by saying, “you sold your country out.”
Flynn’s sentencing by Sullivan would have capped a yearlong journey that began after President Trump was elected but before he took office. The decision to postpone the sentence came on the heels of a three-year sentence given just days ago to Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, for financial crimes and lying to Congress.
The retired army lieutenant general lied to the FBI agents who questioned him in January 2017 at the White House, and those lies were detailed in a late-Monday filing by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team.
Flynn first pleaded guilty in December 2017 to one count of lying to the FBI.
