U.S. Justice Department Dropping Case Against Ex-Trump National-Security Adviser Flynn

The U.S. Justice Department is dropping the criminal charges against former national-security adviser Michael Flynn.

Flynn was among the first individuals swept up in the U.S. investigation into possible collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump’s election campaign team in 2016.

In court documents filed on May 7, the Justice Department said it is dropping the case against Flynn following a “review of all the facts and circumstances of this case,” according to AP.

Flynn was fired by Trump in February 2017, having served as national-security adviser for less than a month, after it emerged he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

In December 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty on charges of lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

In its filling, the Justice Department said it had concluded that Flynn’s January 2017 interview by the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador was “untethered to, and unjustified by, the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into Mr. Flynn.”

It also said that the interview was “conducted without any legitimate investigative basis.”

The May 7 move was quickly welcomed by Trump, who said Flynn was “an innocent man.”

“I hope a lot of people are going to pay a big price. They’re scum,” he added.

In recent months, Flynn’s attorneys have leveled a series of accusations about the FBI’s actions and asked to withdraw their client’s guilty plea.

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and dpa