WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th December, 2018) The sentencing of former US National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty for lying to the FBI about his contacts with then Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak during the US presidential transition, has been set for December 18.
The long-awaited sentencing comes as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into allegations of Trump-Russia collusion and allegations of Russia's meddling during the 2016 US presidential election.
Flynn remains a key figure in the investigation after pleading guilty and is reportedly cooperating with Federal investigators.
In a redacted addendum to the memorandum filed with the court earlier this December, Mueller's office said Flynn provided firsthand information about the content and context of interactions between Trump's transition team and Russian government officials.
Flynn also provided details on his communications with Kislyak regarding a vote on a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity and Obama administration sanctions against Russia, according to the redacted addendum.
Prosecutors said senior members of the Trump's transition team publicly repeated false information conveyed to them by Flynn about his communications with Kislyak.
FORMER BUSINESS PARTNERS CHARGED ON EVE OF FLYNN'S SENTENCING
On Monday, one day before Flynn's scheduled sentencing, federal investigators charged his former business associates for illegally lobbying for Turkey.
Bijan Rafiekian, also known as Bijan Kian, 66, and Kamil Ekim Alptekin were charged with engaging in conspiracy to influence US politicians and public opinion against Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Turkey has accused Gulen, who has been living in the United States since 1999, of orchestrating a failed military coup on July 15, 2016. Gulen has repeatedly denied taking part in the coup.
According to the unsealed indictment, Flynn wrote an opinion article about Gulen in The Hill in an attempt to get him extradited from the United States to Turkey.
The Justice Department said Kian was arrested and indicted in a federal court in Virginia on Monday for acting as an agent of a foreign government and conspiring to get Turkish cleric Gulen extradited. Alptekin, a dual Turkish-Dutch citizen who is accused of paying Kian and Flynn, resides in Istanbul and has not yet been apprehended, the indictment said.
Turkish cabinet-level officials approved a budget for the two men's lobbying efforts, and received regular updates on the results of their work from Alptekin, the indictment said.
In exchange for Flynn's substantial assistance in multiple investigations, Mueller's team recommended that he be given no sentence involving incarceration, according to the memorandum filed with court earlier this month.
"The United States of America, by and through Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III, respectfully submits this memorandum in aid of sentencing defendant Michael T. Flynn," the document said on Tuesday. "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."
While Flynn may not be given a prison sentence, his relations with the prosecutors are hardly amicable. Last week, Mueller asked a US judge to reject Flynn's attempt to minimize the seriousness of his false statements to the FBI, according to the court filing.
On Tuesday, Flynn's lawyers asked the judge to give their client probation not to exceed one year with minimal conditions of supervision and 200 hours of community service.
The former White House aide's lawyers had argued that former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and other agents did not warn Flynn about the fact that lying to the FBI constitutes a crime because they wanted him to be relaxed. Flynn was unguarded, talkative and saw the FBI agents as allies, the documents said.
Mueller, however, argued that "the defendant repeated false statements" during an FBI interview that "was voluntary and cordial" and asked the court to reject the attempts to minimize the gravity of the offense.
Former federal prosecutor George Parry wrote on Tuesday that Flynn's meeting with Kislyak was entirely legal and legitimate under US law, and that even without cooperating with Mueller he was never in danger of going to prison under the federal sentencing guidelines.
As set forth in the defense sentencing memorandum, Perry said the FBI knew the exact words spoken by Flynn to Kislyak given that US intelligence intercepted and recorded the conversations, and had no real investigative purpose in having Flynn questioned about them.
The intercepts gave the FBI a way to set a trap Flynn, who was then bankrupted as a result of being arrested and charged, Perry added.
