Gen. Michael Flynn (Photo by the Defense Department via Wikimedia)
Yesterday, Covington & Burling’s Robert Kelner, the attorney representing noted Russophile General Michael Flynn, released a statement indicating that he was in negotiations with both the House and Senate intelligence committees seeking immunity for his client’s testimony. Kelner went so far as to write “General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should circumstances permit.”
Anyway, despite that world-class fluffing, the powers-that-be are having none of it.
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NEW: Immunity for Flynn is "not on the table," a senior Hill source tells @KenDilanianNBC, and immunity request was denied.
— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) March 31, 2017
Insert the aforementioned sad trombone effect here.
So what does that mean?
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On the one hand, if Flynn really does have an incriminating story to tell about turning over the White House keys to the Kremlin so Anna Chapman could pee on Trump’s bed or whatever, we’ll never hear it over the drone of “I would like to exercise my Fifth Amendment right to not answer that question.” It’s worth noting that even if he had gotten congressional immunity, that wouldn’t necessarily save him from prosecution. All Congress can really do is keep prosecutors from using Flynn’s testimony against him. That may seem like cold comfort in a possible treason case, but it successfully saved Oliver North, who saw his convictions tossed based on the argument that his testimony colored the prosecution even though it wasn’t specifically used against him.
On the other hand…
Mike Flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt (excuse for big election loss), by media & Dems, of historic proportion!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 31, 2017
If Trump was on the immunity train, it suggests he doesn’t understand what immunity could mean for his administration (in fairness, that’s highly possible) or he knows Flynn was just going to give the committees the runaround anyway and this whole immunity request was just a ploy to protect him from what the Trump folks characterize as a witch hunt.
In any event, the deal appears to be as dead as Flynn’s career for now.
Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.