Feeling Sorry for Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn – Or Not

You have to feel a little sorry for Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn – or maybe not.  Lt. Gen. Flynn was Donald Trump’s first National Security Adviser.  In 2017, he was charged by Special Counsel Robert Mueller with lying to the FBI, and he pled guilty.  Some say he pled guilty so the government would not go after his son in a matter involving the consulting firm Lt. Gen. Flynn owned. 

A couple of weeks ago, documents came out that made it look, to some people, like the FBI was trying to set Lt. Gen. Flynn up for a perjury charge.   As those documents were coming out, Donald Trump tweeted about it, of course.  Once President Trump spoke, i.e., tweeted, the story became all about him, which is what happens any time President Trump gets involved in anything.  Which meant the story was no longer about whether Lt. Gen. Flynn was ill-treated or set-up by the FBI, but about President Trump.  If you like President Trump, you were on Lt. Gen. Flynn’s side.  If you don’t, then you thought Lt. Gen. Flynn was guilty.  Regardless of the actual facts of the story, in either case.

Yesterday, the Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss the case against Lt.  Gen. Flynn, a fairly stunning development given he had already pled guilty (though he had recently been trying to get his guilty plea withdrawn).  Even though the recommendation to dismiss the case was made by Jeff Jensen, U.S. Attorney for St. Louis, because Mr. Jensen’s recommendation had to be approved by Attorney General William Barr, the divisions of two weeks ago are being seen again.  If you like President Trump and Attorney General Barr, you will think justice is being done.  If you think Attorney General Barr is just a stooge for President Trump, you will be outraged.  And once again, both sides’ feelings will, in most cases, be without any reference to the actual facts in the case itself.

If the judge in the case allows DoJ to dismiss the case, Lt. Gen. Flynn will have his conviction overturned and he will no longer be a felon.  But the millions of dollars he spent on lawyer’s fees will still be gone.  The house he had to sell to pay his legal fees will still be sold.  And as for his reputation, well, there is no office where he can go to get that back, either.  Though, of course, the views of most people on these points will depend on their view of President Trump.

So, yes, I feel sorry for Lt. Gen. Flynn.  With what he has been through, and especially the fact that few people will look at his situation on its own merits, as opposed to through the prism of their feelings about President Trump, he at least deserves that.