In a stunning turn, Michael Flynn, the retired United States Army Lieutenant General and ex-national security adviser to Donald Trump, turned on the White House Administration and told the FBI that he lied to them previously about his contacts with the Russian ambassador and that he was instructed by the campaign officials surrounding President Donald Trump to do so.
Mr Flynn's statement regarding this plea:
"After over 33 years of military service to our country, including nearly five years in combat away from my family, and then my decision to continue to serve the United States, it has been extraordinarily painful to endure these many months of false accusations of "treason" and other outrageous acts."
"Such false accusations are contrary to everything I have ever done and stood for. But I recognize that the actions I acknowledged in court today were wrong, and, through my faith in God, I am working to set things right. My guilty plea and agreement to cooperate with the Special Counsel's Office reflect a decision I made in the best interests of my family and of our country. I accept full responsibility for my actions."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">JUST OUT from Sen Warner, ranking Vice Chair of the Senate Intel Committee:<br>"The Special Counsel's probe has found illegal behavior stretching into the senior most levels of the White House." <a href="https://t.co/IQRzJHS4sY">pic.twitter.com/IQRzJHS4sY</a></p>— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) <a href="https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/936660104836997120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">1 December 2017</a></blockquote>
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Whilst President Trump refused to answer questions about the guilty plea of his former security adviser, there has already been a statement by White House special counsel Ty Cobb:
“Today, Michael Flynn, a former National Security Advisor at the White House for 25 days during the Trump Administration, and a former Obama administration official, entered a guilty plea to a single count of making a false statement to the FBI."
“The false statements involved mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in his resignation in February of this year. Nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn. The conclusion of this phase of the Special Counsel's work demonstrates again that the Special Counsel is moving with all deliberate speed and clears the way for a prompt and reasonable conclusion.”
Reports are now indicating that Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and a White House adviser, may be the next in line to be summoned by the Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
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