Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team rejected former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s suggestion that he should have been warned not to lie to the FBI or else he could face serious consequences.
Mueller’s office pointed to Flynn’s extensive career in government as why he should have known not to make false statements to investigators.
“A sitting National Security Advisor, former head of an intelligence agency, retired Lieutenant General, and 33-year veteran of the armed forces knows he should not lie to federal agents,” federal prosecutors wrote in a court filing Friday.
“He does not need to be warned it is a crime to lie to federal agents to know the importance of telling them the truth. The defendant undoubtedly was aware, in light of his ‘many years’ working with the FBI, that lying to the FBI carries serious consequences,” the document said.
Flynn’s lawyers had previously said that President Trump’s former national security adviser lied to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. because he was caught off guard when FBI agents interviewed him at the White House on Jan. 24, 2017.
The FBI also did not warn Flynn that there would be penalties for lying because they wanted Flynn to be “relaxed” during the session, according to a sentencing memo filed by Flynn’s legal team.
“The interview was voluntary, and lacked any indicia of coercion,” Mueller’s office said.
Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 for lying about the conversations with the ambassador in the weeks before Trump was inaugurated. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 18.
He faces up to six months in prison for the charge, but Mueller has recommended that he receive little to no jail time in exchange for his cooperation with the Russia investigation.
Mueller’s team said it would not be changing that recommendation in the court documents filed Friday.
