Former U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to the FBI about Russia, and ABC News said he was prepared to testify that before taking office President Donald Trump had directed him to make contact with Russians.<\/p>\n
Reuters could not immediately verify the ABC report, which cited a Flynn confidant. The news sent U.S. stocks sharply lower.<\/p>\n
Flynn, a former top Trump campaign aide and a central figure in a federal investigation into Moscow\u2019s alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, pleaded guilty under a plea deal on Friday to lying to the FBI.<\/p>\n
His decision to cooperate with the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, marked a major escalation in a probe that has dogged Trump\u2019s administration since the Republican president took office in January.<\/p>\n
ABC News cited a confidant as saying Flynn was ready to testify that Trump directed him to make contact with Russians, initially as a way to work together to fight the Islamic State group in Syria.<\/p>\n
It was not clear when Trump supposedly told Flynn to contact Russians and whether there would be anything illegal in requesting such contact.<\/p>\n
Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements about contacts he had in December with Russia\u2019s ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, during the transition period after Trump was elected and before he was sworn in. The charges carry a sentence of up to five years in prison.<\/p>\n
The White House said Flynn\u2019s guilty plea implicated him alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn,\u201d Ty Cobb, a White House attorney, said in a statement on Friday.<\/p>\n
Flynn was forced out of his White House post in February for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with the ambassador.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe false statements involved mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in his resignation in February of this year,\u201d Cobb said, adding that the plea \u201cclears the way for a prompt and reasonable conclusion\u201d of Mueller\u2019s probe.<\/p>\n
Moscow has denied a conclusion by U.S. intelligence agencies that it meddled in the election campaign to try to sway the vote in Trump\u2019s favor. Trump has denied any collusion by his campaign and has called Mueller\u2019s probe a witch hunt.<\/p>\n
Flynn said on Friday his decision to plead guilty and to cooperate with the investigation was \u201cmade in the best interests of my family and of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement issued by the law firm representing him, Flynn also said it was \u201cpainful to endure\u201d the \u201cfalse accusations of \u2018treason\u2019 and other outrageous acts\u201d over the past several months but that he recognized \u201cthat the actions I acknowledged in court today were wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to the FBI about Russia, and ABC News said he was prepared to testify that before taking office President Donald Trump had directed him to make contact with Russians. Reuters could not immediately verify the ABC report, which cited a Flynn confidant. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":58197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,15,2],"tags":[34191,40864,40865],"yoast_head":"\n