Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn has once again been in the news after his three-year battle to clear his name after he was removed from his position early in 2017. The general was pardoned by President Donald Trump just days ago, and it appears that he doesn’t consider accusations made against him to be entirely water under the bridge.
According to a report in the Independent Journal Review, Flynn recently “put the fear of God” into President Barack Obama who he alleges was integral in the accusations that led to him being targeted for prosecution.
During his recent interview with Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro, which was his first since he was pardoned by the president, Flynn said, “I must have put the fear of God into Barack Obama and probably still do because of this four-year-long saga that they put me, my family through, President Donald J. Trump and his family and frankly the entire country.”
Flynn’s appointment as National Security Advisor wasn’t his first high-level cabinet placement. IJR reports that the former general served as the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency under Obama until he was fired in 2014. He claimed that Obama tried to dissuade Trump from hiring him because Obama believed that it would give Trump a peek into policy “blunders” that happened under the Obama administration.
He said, “When [Trump] chose me to be the national security advisor they knew that their little plan of spying on Donald Trump would fall apart and many other foreign policy blunders they got our country into, whether it was the Iran deal, issues going on in the Asian-pacific theater, trade, all sorts of issues that were in play that the last administration did to frankly run this country right into the ground.”
“They knew those were the types of things I was aware of. Let’s face it. Barack Obama appointed me twice. I was Senate confirmed twice during the time I was in the military … So it’s amazing that would be what he would focus on during the transition for the United States of America. It’s outrageous, actually.”
In the end, Flynn served as Trump’s national security adviser for a short 25 days before he came under suspicion and was removed from the position in 2017, while the Trump administration was still in its infancy.
While Flynn later pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents, he attempted to withdraw that plea earlier this year, after more information about intelligence agencies’ workings came to light.
According to IJR, the Department of Justice began its process to drop the prosecution of Flynn in May of this year, but the judge who is handling the case actually fought to keep the department from letting the case go.
The department said at the time, “We do not believe that the Government can prove either the relevant false statements or their materiality beyond a reasonable doubt.”
“The Government is not persuaded that the January 24, 2017 interview was conducted with a legitimate investigative basis and therefore does not believe Mr. Flynn’s statements were material even if untrue,” it added.
“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.”
Flynn was officially pardoned by Trump the day before Thanksgiving.
“It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon,” Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday, Nov 25.
He added, “Congratulations to [Michael Flynn] and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!”
