U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller released a heavily-redacted sentencing memo on Michael Flynn and recommended no jail time for the former National Security Adviser. The redactions were disappointing for those hoping the memo would shed light on other aspects of the Mueller investigation. Flynn met 19 times with the Special Counsel’s team, according to the memo, which read, in part: “The defendant provided firsthand information about the content and context of interactions between the transition team and Russian government officials.”
CNBC reports: ‘Trump’s ex-national security advisor is due to be sentenced Dec. 18 in U.S. District Court in Washington. He pleaded guilty last December to a single count of lying to federal agents about his conversations with Russia‘s ambassador to the United States during the presidential transition in late 2016. Flynn has cooperated with Mueller’s ongoing probe since pleading guilty. “Given the defendant’s substantial assistance and other considerations set forth below, a sentence at the low end of the guideline range — including a sentence that does not impose a term of incarceration — is appropriate and warranted,” Mueller’s office wrote in the memo filed Tuesday. Mueller’s memo says that some of Flynn’s benefits to the probe “may not be fully realized at this time because the investigations in which he has provided assistance are ongoing.”‘
CNN adds: ‘The most interesting disclosure was that Flynn had helped with what appears to be at least one separate, unidentified criminal investigation that is distinct from the probe into Russian election interference and any links to Trump’s 2016 team. All references to that avenue of inquiry were blacked out — an omission that is likely to spark fierce speculation about what he is referring to and who may be in his sights. There was also an unmissable line in the Flynn sentencing memo that will be viewed as a sign that the special counsel is aiming at administration officials who are more senior, even, than a former national security adviser. He wrote, while noting Flynn’s exemplary military service over a long career, that nevertheless “senior government leaders should be held to the highest standards.” That hint should certainly worry Trump and his top aides.’
