President Donald J. Trump pardoned his former national security advisor Michael Flynn on Nov. 25, 2020. “It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Michael T. Flynn was Trump’s former national security advisor for the first 22 days of the Trump administration before his resignation. He served as a United States Army lieutenant general until he left the army and established Flynn Intel Group before getting involved in politics and the Trump Administration.
According to ABC News, In December 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty twice for lying to the FBI about his contacts with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Presidential Elections. Later after pleading guilty, Flynn later tried to withdraw what he had said, with help from Attorney General William P. Barr who tried to drop the case altogether.
Flynn tweeted an American flag emoji with a verse from the Bible, Jeremiah 1:19, “‘They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will resume you,’ declares the Lord,” in response to the backlash he received, but Flynn was still taken to court and incarcerated despite his attempts to take back his plea.
“From my own understanding about the pardon usage, this is one of the broadest uses of the pardon power. Some historians have said that the use of this pardon power has been more broad than the pardon of President Nixon,” history teacher Joseph Makhluf said.
The pardon granted to Flynn was questioned for its broadness because it states that Flynn will be shielded from “any and all possible offenses” and protects Flynn from any charges that “‘might arise, or be charged, claimed, or asserted’ from his criminal case,” according to The National Law Journal.
