Special Counsel Robert Mueller is expected to unveil the extent of Michael Flynn’s cooperation with the Russian probe very soon, especially his dealings with Russia and the Trump campaign. Mueller will be filing new documents in court on Tuesday as the investigation steams forward towards more criminal indictments. The filings are going to describe the crimes that Flynn committed which led to his guilty plea about a year ago. The former National Security Advisor under the Trump administration pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators.
The filings by the office of the special counsel will provide a brief for the judge before the sentencing is done. Similar documents filed before about former Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos and Richard Penedo did offer some insights on what the two had done. We don’t expect anything different from the Flynn filings. But there’s a difference. Unlike these two defendants, Flynn did actually cut a deal to cooperate with Mueller in the Russia probe. Some of the details that will be filed in court could highlight to the Judge the extent of cooperation that Flynn has delivered and how he has impacted the probe so far.
The former National Security Advisor cut a deal with Mueller last December to cooperate with the investigation. Reports indicate that investigators in the Mueller team wanted to find out what the president knew about Flynn’s contact and discussions with the Russian government. So far this information has been kept from the public eye. However, even if the filings reveal something new about the probe, it’s very unlikely that it will be anything conclusive. But this information will provide an indication of what we should expect moving forward and whether the probe which has been going on for two years has made any progress.
In addition to this, federal prosecutors have already blocked this minor charge from moving to the sentencing stage four times in the past year. Every time they said that the sentencing couldn’t be done due to the “status of the Russia probe.” Reports indicate that Flynn has given countless interviews with the special counsel. It’s very likely that the decision to file documents for sentencing in court is an indication that the former National Security Advisor has given all he could to the Mueller team. It’s also likely that the sentencing had to be delayed until after the midterms in order to depoliticize the investigation.
Besides, there are other cooperators in the Mueller probe who haven’t been sentenced yet despite agreeing to a guilty plea. Some of the high profile cooperators include Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign manager and Rick Gates. The two have met with investigators separately over the last few months. However, Manafort breached his deal by lying to the Mueller team.
The maximum sentence for Flynn’s crime is five years. Due to his cooperation with the Russian investigation, he may get between zero to six months in prison. The filings will have all the details.
