President Donald Trump heaped online praise on former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn’s new attorney – who has blasted the Mueller probe, pushed for a pardon for her client, and sent Trump birthday MAGA greetings.
Flynn brought on his new counsel, Sidney Powell, after spending months cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators. He fired his previous lawyer as sentencing approached, after prosecutors urged his cooperation be taken into account.
Trump called Flynn,a former Lt. General who ran the Defense Intelligence Agency before being fired by President Obama, a ‘war hero’ whom he wished luck.
President Donald Trump praised former national security advisor Michael Flynn’s new lawyer, Sidney Powell
‘General Michael Flynn, the 33 year war hero who has served with distinction, has not retained a good lawyer, he has retained a GREAT LAWYER, Sidney Powell. Best Wishes and Good Luck to them both!’ Trump wrote.
Powell’s postings reveal a stream of criticism of the Mueller probe and praise for Trump.
The former federal prosecutor in Texas called the Mueller probe ‘creeps on a mission,’ accused Robert Mueller’s lead prosecutor of ‘terrorist tactics,’ and has argued Flynn should withdraw his guilty plea.
She called the Mueller probe ‘creeps on a mission’
Her book attacked Justice Department ‘corruption,’ and she recently retweeted a call for Flynn to get a presidential pardon
She tweeted ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’ greetings to Trump, complete with emojis, and wrote a book called ‘License to Lie’ blasting what she calls ‘corruption’ at the Justice Department.
She also retweeted a push to #PardonFlynnNow, after the Mueller team conducted in-depth examinations of Trump and his associates’ use of potential pardons for key witnesses in the probe.
She has said Trump had ‘every right’ to fire FBI Director James Comey, says a special counsel never should have been appointed, and that it was ‘absurd’ for Mueller to launch an obstruction probe of President Trump. She has called the entire Russia collusion narrative ‘made up.’
She said the report’s obstruction volume constituted ‘smear tactics.’
Last week, Flynn suddenly fired his lawyers in advance of his sentencing for lying to the FBI.
Flynn has ‘is terminating’ the law firm of Covington & Burling as his counsel, according to a court filing, after being represented by partner Robert Kelner in a series of high-stakes legal battles.
Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators, has spent months cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators, who have attested to the utility of information he provided.
Kelner was the recipient of a voicemail from former lawyer for President Trump, John Dowd, which Mueller include in the report, which examined multiple instances of possible obstruction by the president.
Judge Emmett Sullivan, who is overseeing the case, ordered its release Friday.
In the transcript of the message, Dowd asks Kelner for a ‘head’s up’ if Flynn had any information that ‘implicates’ the president, according to an unsealed document.
Dowd also pointed out Trump and ‘his feelings toward Flynn,’ in a call that was referenced in the Mueller report. ‘I’m sympathetic; I understand your situation,’ Dowd says in the message.
Thursday’s filing about counsel provides no reason for Flynn’s decision.
One of President Trump’s lawyers asked an attorney for National Security Advisory Mike Flynn for a ‘head’s up’ regarding any incriminating information
President Donald Trump’s former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, his attorney Robert Kelner and Flynn’s wife Lori Andrade arrive at federal court in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018
This courtroom sketch depicts former President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, standing center, flanked by his lawyers, listening to U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, right, as he addresses Flynn and points to the American flag inside the federal court in Washington, Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. Sullivan agreed to postpone Flynn’s sentencing so he can continue cooperating with the Russia probe
The Justice Department released the transcript of a November 22, 2017 voicemai, but has yet to comply with an order to release the transcript of Flynn’s conversations with Russia’s former ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak.
Judge Sullivan erupted during a 2018 hearing after Flynn’s legal team submitted a document that made the case his lies weren’t as bad as those told by other defendants – at the same time Flynn was accepting responsibility for his offenses.
‘The decisions made by me, made by [co-counsel Stephen] Anthony, are entirely ours and really should not and do not diminish in any way General Flynn’s acceptance of responsibility in this case,’ Kelner said at the time.
Flynn has amassed $5 million in legal bills, ABC reported in March.