“This Department of Justice will continue to pursue accountability at all levels for this wrongdoing,” the agency said. “Such weaponization of the federal government must never be allowed to happen again.”
The Department of Justice has settled a lawsuit filed on behalf of President Donald Trump’s former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, who claims that he was wrongfully prosecuted for making false statements to the FBI during the agency’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia during the 2016 election.
According to The Hill, the settlement is expected to resolve Flynn’s lawsuit, which was first filed in 2023. In court filings, Flynn described the Justice Department’s criminal proceedings as politically motivated. He sought up to $50 million in damages, but the case was settled for a $1.2 million payment.
“Nothing can fully compensate for the hell that my family and I have endured over these many years — the relentless attacks, the destruction of reputations, the financial ruin, and the profound personal toll inflicted upon us all,” Flynn said in a statement to The Associated Press.
“No amount of money or formal resolution can erase the pain caused by a prosecution that should have never been brought,” Flynn added.
The Hill notes that, in 2024, a federal judge dismissed Flynn’s lawsuit at the request of the Justice Department, then under the direction of the Biden administration. Flynn’s legal team then filed an amended complaint, claiming that investigators had engaged in “malicious prosecution and abuse of power.”
Flynn, who worked closely with the Trump campaign in 2016, pleaded guilty in 2017 of lying to federal investigators about communications with Sergey Kislyak, who was then serving as Russia’s ambassador to the United States.
In 2020, Flynn sough to withdraw his guilty plea weeks before sentencing, accusing prosecutors and investigators of acting improperly to coerce him into cooperating with the investigation. His sentenced was subsequently delayed several times.
In May of the same year, investigators dropped charges against Flynn, finding that his false statements were not “material” to the probe. Flynn was eventually pardoned by Donald Trump at the end of his first term in office, though a federal judge clarified that a presidential pardon is not proof of innocence or non-culpability.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s 22-month investigation ultimately concluded that the Trump campaign did not conspire or coordinate with Russia to interfere with the U.S. election. It continues to serve as an inspiration for right-wing conspiracy theorists, who believe that Trump was unfairly targeted for political reasons.
A Justice Department spokesperson told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Flynn’s settlement is “an important step in redressing” a “historic injustice.”
“This Department of Justice will continue to pursue accountability at all levels for this wrongdoing,” the agency said. “Such weaponization of the federal government must never be allowed to happen again.”
Sources
AP report: Justice Department settles lawsuit from Trump ally Michael Flynn for $1.2 million
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