It may take years to unravel the political persecution and prosecution of Michael Flynn. President Trump officially pardoned his former national security adviser November 25, igniting fury and indignation in the legacy media and Democratic Party lawmakers. Why would the president take such a step at this time? Perhaps because he wholeheartedly believes it is the right and decent thing to do.
So do many others.
A National Disgrace
For countless Americans, the thin gruel used to prosecute Michael Flynn amounted to nothing less than a national disgrace. A legal saga drawn out for almost four years; Flynn's sad tale is a case of guilty until proven innocent. The former three-star lieutenant general with a long history of service to the United States was boxed into a legal corner, ultimately agreeing to plead guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversation with a Russian official before Trump took office. He later withdrew that plea. Eventually, the Justice Department decided to drop the charges against Flynn.
In defending the Justice Department's decision, Attorney General Bill Barr said that Mr. Flynn did not commit a crime and that, "… people sometimes plead to things that turn out not to be crimes." It must be acknowledged that the person at the forefront of the Flynn case's successful adjudication is none other than attorney Sidney Powell.
Before Mr. Trump took office, Flynn's phone call with Russian official Sergey Kislyak was wiretapped when the FBI was investigating alleged Russian involvement in the 2016 election. Flynn was caught up in the probe, which was later called a "perjury trap" by the attorney general. Recognizing the injustice done to Flynn, Barr told CBS' Catherine Herridge:
"I also think it's sad that nowadays these partisan feelings are so strong that people have lost any sense of justice. And the groups that usually worry about civil liberties and making sure that there's proper procedures followed, and standards, seem to be ignoring it and willing to destroy people's lives and see great injustices done."
Stripped of his exceptional reputation and shelling out exorbitant amounts of money in legal fees, there's no question that Flynn suffered mightily from the politically charged accusations of wrongdoing. Even after the Justice Department dropped the case, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan carried on and appointed former judge John Gleeson to oppose the Justice Department's decision to drop the charges against Flynn. Gleeson's involvement was widely regarded as an "extraordinary move in a case with acute political overtones," and that was written in The New York Times.
Questions regarding Flynn's guilt or innocence have long been split along party lines. Thus, it came as no surprise those on the left wasted no time decrying the retired lieutenant general's pardon.
Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), was predictably among the first to cry foul. "Trump has once again abused the pardon power to reward Michael Flynn, who chose loyalty to Trump over loyalty to his country," Schiff told anyone who would listen. The problem for Schiff and his comrades at this point is that his sound and fury signify nothing.
The Michael Flynn saga is exhibit A of what can happen when one associates with someone dedicated to "draining the Swamp." Unfortunately for Flynn, he quickly found out how dark and deep the Swamp is in Washington, D.C. However, if the one doing the draining holds the power of the pardon, justice ultimately will prevail.
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Read more from Leesa K. Donner.
