Michael Flynn pleads guilty to lying to FBI is cooperating with Mueller
Michael Flynn Jr.
In court Friday morning   Flynn 's only comments were to answer yes and no to questions from the judge. He told the judge he has not been coerced to plead guilty or been promised a specific sentence.  Flynn  faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison  according to federal sentencing guidelines  though the judge Friday morning stressed he could impose a harsher or lighter sentence.
In a statement   Flynn  said he acknowledged that his actions "were wrong  and  through my faith in God  I am working to set things right.
 Flynn 's plea agreement stipulates that  he 'll cooperate with federal  state or even local investigators in any way Mueller's office might need  according to a document filed in court Friday.  He  could also be required to participate in covert law enforcement operations (such as wearing a wire) if asked  or share details of  his  past dealings with the Trump transition and administration.
The agreement adds that Mueller's office won't prosecute  Flynn  for additional crimes they outlined in  his  statement of offense Friday  such as  his  misreported foreign lobbying filings about  his  work for Turkey. If other prosecutors outside the special counsel's office  such as US attorneys or state law enforcement  wanted to charge  Flynn  with alleged crimes  they still could  and  he 's not protected if  he  lies to investigators again in the future or breaks the terms of  his  plea agreement.
JUST WATCHED What Trump has said about Michael Flynn Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH What Trump has said about  Michael Flynn 01:33
In court  prosecutors detailed calls made by  Flynn  in late December 2016 to the senior Trump transition team at Mar-a-Lago to discuss conversations with Kislyak. There were multiple conversations with the transition while he was having conversations with Kisyak about Russia sanctions and the Russian response.
According to a statement of offense filed in court   Flynn  conducted several calls with senior officials on the Trump transition team about his discussions with Kislyak related to US sanctions of Russia.
 Flynn  and Trump advisers discussed US sanctions three times. The first call discussed the potential impact on the "incoming administration's foreign policy goals " according to the court filing  from which details were partially read during  Flynn 's plea hearing.
 Flynn  then called Kislyak to ask that Russia not respond too harshly to US sanctions  the statement of offense said.  He  told a Trump transition official about that call. Russia responded by choosing not to retaliate to the sanctions.
KT McFarland was a senior transition official at Mar-a-Lago who was described as discussing with  Flynn  what  if anything  to communicate to the Russian ambassador about US sanctions  according to sources familiar with the matter. McFarland was not named in the document  but sources confirmed she was one of the transition officials described in the court filings.
McFarland met with Mueller investigators recently to answer questions about  Flynn   according to the sources.
According to the special counsel charges  McFarland and  Flynn  talked about the potential impact of the sanctions on the incoming Trump administration's foreign policy and that the transition team did not want Russia to escalate the situation.
The bulk of the back-and-forth calls from  Flynn  to the Russian ambassador and to Trump advisers happened around December 29  while the advisers were at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
 Flynn  lied to investigators about these calls with the ambassador  according to  his  guilty plea and the criminal statement of offense.
The charging document states that  Flynn  made a false statement to the FBI when he stated that in December 2016 he did not ask Kislyak "to refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions that the United States had imposed against Russia that same day; and  Flynn  did not recall the Russian ambassador subsequently telling him that Russia had chosen to moderate its response to those sanctions as a result of his request."
The document also says that  Flynn  falsely said  he  did not ask Kislyak to delay the vote on a pending United Nations Security Council resolution.
In court Friday morning   [TGT] 's only comments were to answer yes and no to questions from the judge. He told the judge he has not been coerced to plead guilty or been promised a specific sentence.  [TGT]faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison  according to federal sentencing guidelines  though the judge Friday morning stressed [TGT] could impose a harsher or lighter sentence.
In a statement   [TGT]said [TGT] acknowledged that [TGT] actions "were wrong  and  through my faith in God  I am working to set things right.
 [TGT] 's plea agreement stipulates that  [TGT] 'll cooperate with federal  state or even local investigators in any way Mueller's office might need  according to a document filed in court Friday.  [TGT]  could also be required to participate in covert law enforcement operations (such as wearing a wire) if asked  or share details of  [TGT]  past dealings with the Trump transition and administration.
The agreement adds that Mueller's office won't prosecute  [TGT]for additional crimes they outlined in  [TGT]  statement of offense Friday  such as  [TGT]  misreported foreign lobbying filings about  [TGT]  work for Turkey. If other prosecutors outside the special counsel's office  such as US attorneys or state law enforcement  wanted to charge  [TGT]with alleged crimes  they still could  and  he 's not protected if  he  lies to investigators again in the future or breaks the terms of  his  plea agreement.
JUST WATCHED What Trump has said about Michael Flynn Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH What Trump has said about  Michael Flynn 01:33
In court  prosecutors detailed calls made by  [TGT]in late December 2016 to the senior Trump transition team at Mar-a-Lago to discuss conversations with Kislyak. There were multiple conversations with the transition while he was having conversations with Kisyak about Russia sanctions and the Russian response.
According to a statement of offense filed in court   [TGT]conducted several calls with senior officials on the Trump transition team about his discussions with Kislyak related to US sanctions of Russia.
 [TGT]and Trump advisers discussed US sanctions three times. The first call discussed the potential impact on the "incoming administration's foreign policy goals " according to the court filing  from which details were partially read during  Flynn 's plea hearing.
 [TGT]then called Kislyak to ask that Russia not respond too harshly to US sanctions  the statement of offense said.  [TGT]  told a Trump transition official about that call. Russia responded by choosing not to retaliate to the sanctions.
KT McFarland was a senior transition official at Mar-a-Lago who was described as discussing with  [TGT]what  if anything  to communicate to the Russian ambassador about US sanctions  according to sources familiar with the matter. McFarland was not named in the document  but sources confirmed she was one of the transition officials described in the court filings.
McFarland met with Mueller investigators recently to answer questions about  Flynn   according to the sources.
According to the special counsel charges  McFarland and  [TGT]talked about the potential impact of the sanctions on the incoming Trump administration's foreign policy and that the transition team did not want Russia to escalate the situation.
The bulk of the back-and-forth calls from  [TGT]to the Russian ambassador and to Trump advisers happened around December 29  while the advisers were at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
 [TGT]lied to investigators about these calls with the ambassador  according to  [TGT]  guilty plea and the criminal statement of offense.
The charging document states that  [TGT]made a false statement to the FBI when he stated that in December 2016 he did not ask Kislyak "to refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions that the United States had imposed against Russia that same day; and  [TGT]did not recall the Russian ambassador subsequently telling [TGT] that Russia had chosen to moderate its response to those sanctions as a result of [TGT] request."
The document also says that  [TGT]falsely said  [TGT]  did not ask Kislyak to delay the vote on a pending United Nations Security Council resolution.