Trump Begins Planning Pardon for Major ‘ObamaGate’ Target

As each day passes, President Trump seems to be more at ease with the idea that he may not be in the White House after January 20th.  Sure, Rudy and Co. are still out on the road attempting to prove that Donald Trump actually won the 2020 election, but the paths to re-victory are narrowing.

For instance, the General Services Administration was finally allowed to release transition resources to Joe Biden this week, signaling an admission by the federal government that a change is in the offing.

And then there’s the case of Michael Flynn, and rumors of a pardon incoming for the esteemed General. 

President Trump has told confidants he plans to pardon his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts, two sources with direct knowledge of the discussions tell Axios.

Behind the scenes: Sources with direct knowledge of the discussions said Flynn will be part of a series of pardons that Trump issues between now and when he leaves office.

The big picture: Flynn’s pardon would be the culmination of a four-year political and legal saga that began with the FBI’s investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian government in the 2016 election.

Flynn has been a controversial figure throughout his trial, and Trump wouldn’t likely pardon his former national security adviser unless time was running out to do so.

General Flynn was a target of the RussiaGate ObamaGate investigation that sought to tie Donald Trump’s campaign to the Kremlin efforts to elect him.  He was charged with lying to the FBI, but handwritten notes from his Bureau interviewers indicated that the agents were considering a plan of interrogation that would trick Flynn into lying to them, thus granting the FBI leverage over the White House adviser.