Former national security adviser Michael Flynn has offered to testify before Congress about the possible ties between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia, in exchange for immunity from prosecution, the Wall Street Journal reports.
However, according to The New York Times, a congressional official said that investigators have so far declined to broker a deal with Flynn, 58, who resigned last month as the president’s national security adviser after it was revealed that he misled the White House about his relationship with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Sergey I. Kislyak.
Flynn’s lawyer, Robert Kelner, released a statement on Thursday, March 30, confirming that intelligence committees for the House and the Senate had discussed the possibility of his client testifying.
“General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should circumstances permit,” the statement read, adding that “no reasonable person, who has the benefit of advice from counsel, would submit to questioning in such a highly politicized, witch-hunt environment without assurances against unfair prosecution.”
Flynn’s request for immunity comes as the FBI is investigating whether any of Trump’s advisers conspired with the Russian government to help disrupt the results of the 2016 presidential election, in which the ex-Celebrity Apprentice host, 70, defeated his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
In December 2015, Flynn — a retired three-star Army general and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency — attended a gala in Moscow and sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has previously argued that America and Russia share many common interests, including their efforts to fight terrorism.
The Justice Department has yet to publicly address Flynn’s plea for immunity.
