The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday night that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has been seeking an immunity deal from both the FBI and the House and Senate intelligence committees under which he would testify in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Shortly thereafter, Flynn’s attorney, Robert Kelner, released a letter to the press that appeared to confirm the story.
“General Flynn certainly has a story to tell,” according to the letter, “and he very much wants to tell it, should the circumstances permit.”
The main thrust of Kelner’s letter is not an admission of any wrongdoing on Flynn’s part, but rather that Flynn is now at the center of a “highly politicized, witch hunt environment” that makes it imprudent to testify without assurances.
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Flynn himself had a different view of immunity when discussing the Hillary Clinton email investigation on Meet the Press during the campaign season.
“I mean, five people around her have had, have been given immunity, including her former chief of staff,” Flynn told Chuck Todd. “When you are given immunity, that means that you have probably committed a crime.”
In Flynn’s case, if there were legal jeopardy, it would likely relate to his work as a “foreign agent” of the government of Turkey rather than to anything related to the Russian election tampering that is at the center of ongoing investigations.
