Trump, aides have discussed plans to pardon Michael Flynn: reports

U.S. President Donald Trump has discussed plans to pardon his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to U.S. media reports.

A person familiar with discussions between Trump and his aides told The New York Times that the Republican president plans to pardon Flynn before leaving office.

However, three sources told CNN that Trump could still change his mind about pardoning Flynn.

According to the New York Times report, Flynn is just one of a string of pardons Trump is considering before President-elect Joe Biden takes over the White House in January.

News of the discussions was first reported by Axios on Tuesday.

2:12 Trump says General Flynn was ‘targeted by the Obama administration to take me down’

Flynn, a retired Army general, pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about interactions he had with Russia’s ambassador to the United States in the weeks before Trump took office.

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However, he has since sought to withdraw the plea, arguing that prosecutors violated his rights and duped him into a plea agreement.

In a tweet in March, Trump said the FBI and Justice Department had destroyed Flynn’s life, adding that he was “strongly considering a Full Pardon!”

This summer, Trump commuted the criminal sentence of conservative consultant and lobbyist Roger Stone, who had been convicted of obstruction of justice, witness tampering and lying to Congress.

0:57 Roger Stone says he did not trade silence for commutation

He had been sentenced to prison before Trump intervened.

-With files from Reuters.