President Trump’s inner circle might have a rat.
Just when you thought the investigation into potential meddling by Russia in the 2016 election couldn’t get any more interesting, Mike Flynn, Trump’s former National Security Adviser, told the FBI and Congress that he’s willing to be interviewed in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Neither Congress nor the FBI has yet taken up his offer.
Flynn served as an adviser during Trump’s presidential campaign. After the election, he was briefly an aide in the White House before resigning after news broke that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other members of the Trump administration about the nature of his conversation with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition.
Asking for immunity suggests Flynn is worried about prosecution. As Flynn himself put it back in September, “When you are given immunity, that means you have probably committed a crime.”
Congressional Democrats and the FBI have scrutinized Flynn’s previous business dealings. The FBI is currently investigating whether the Trump campaign worked with Russian officials to interfere with November’s election. So far, no evidence of such collusion has been presented.
“No reasonable person, who has the benefit of advice from counsel, would submit to questioning in such a highly politicized, witch-hunt environment without assurances against unfair prosecution,” Flynn’s attorney, Robert Kelner, said in a statement Thursday evening.
Documents obtained by Congress show that Flynn was paid tens of thousands of dollars by several Russian companies just before he joined Trump’s campaign.
While Flynn has laid down his own terms, he is not the only member of Trump campaign who has offered to speak to Congress. Former campaign manager Paul Manafort and former advisers Roger Stone and Carter Page have also agreed to testify.
It’s impossible to speculate what Flynn might offer investigators. Given his intimate role in Trump’s campaign and the White House, the former general might be able to clarify any concerns surrounding Manafort and his alleged financial connections to the Russian government and Russian-owned banks.
Regardless of his motivation, Flynn’s willingness to speak to investigators guarantees more coverage of this issue—and serves as another roadblock for Trump’s presidential agenda. Several Democrats have already said that little can be accomplished in Congress while the cloud of the Russian investigation hangs overhead.