"Abuse of power": why the US criticized Trump's decision to pardon a former adviser

US President Donald Trump announced the pardon of his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

“I am honored to announce that General Michael Flynn has received a full pardon.

Congratulations to General Flynn and his wonderful family.

I am sure now you will have just a wonderful Thanksgiving! ”, - wrote Trump on his Twitter.

It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon.

Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 25, 2020

Earlier, Donald Trump has already mentioned that he can pardon a retired general, who was accused of perjury by the FBI as part of the investigation by the Special Attorney Muller's commission about "ties" with Russia.

Trump said that despite Flynn's deal with justice, he does not consider him guilty, and is confident that he was treated unfairly.

Democrats criticized the pardon as undeserved and unprincipled.

Thus, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi called it "an act of blatant corruption and impudent abuse of power."

Democratic Congressman and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said that "Trump's pardon does not cancel" Flynn's plea.

In turn, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler, believes that "President Trump's accomplices have created a confusing version of events in which Trump and Flynn are victims, and the Constitution is subject to the whims of the president."

However, he said, by voting against Trump, "the Americans firmly rejected this nonsense."

Recall that Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, the former head of the Pentagon's intelligence department, took over as Trump's national security adviser in January 2017.

However, without spending even a month in office, Flynn was forced to resign due to accusations of tacit contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

Shortly thereafter, the FBI launched an investigation into Flynn in the case of Trump's "ties" with Russia as part of the commission of Special Attorney Robert Mueller.

• Michael Flynn

• AFP

• © POOL / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA

At the same time, the US Department of Justice accused the general of giving false testimony to federal agents, but did not put forward any accusations of working as a foreign agent without registration or of treason.

Experts noted that Trump's ex-adviser was caught in the so-called perjury trap - the conversation with the investigators was conducted without the presence of a lawyer, and the FBI agents deliberately interrogated in such a way as to get an inaccurate answer to the questions they had already clarified and, under this pretext, accuse Flynn of giving false indications.

Initially, Michael Flynn collaborated with the investigation and pleaded guilty to perjury to investigators.

However, at the end of January 2020, the ex-adviser withdrew his confession of guilt and demanded a full acquittal, stating that the agents of the bureau had deceived him into testimony, which was found to be false.

At the end of April 2020, Flynn's lawyers released internal correspondence from FBI agents in which senior bureau officials discussed how to put Trump's advisor in a similar situation.

We will remind, Flynn became one of the first associates of Trump, who was indicted as part of the investigation of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller.

For two years, the commission tried to establish a conspiracy between Donald Trump's campaign headquarters and the Russian authorities, which allegedly helped the billionaire win the presidential election in 2016.

The investigation lasted two years, ending in March 2019.

At the same time, a final report was sent to Congress, which noted that the Mueller Commission had failed to identify Trump's collusion with Moscow.

At the same time, the document contained a statement that Russia allegedly interfered in the course of the US presidential elections.

Precautions

Against the background of the news about the presidential pardon of Michael Flynn, a number of American media began to spread information that Donald Trump was allegedly preparing to pardon himself.

Such assumptions, in particular, were voiced by such publications as The New York Times, Vanity Fair magazine, CNN TV channel and some other media.

So, the CNN television channel, citing a source from Trump's entourage, reported that the 45th president, back in 2017, became interested in the opportunity to grant pardon to himself and his family members.

• US President Donald Trump

• Reuters

• © Hannah McKay

“He became obsessed with the right to pardon as soon as he found out about it.

I always thought that he liked it also because he could do favors that way, ”the official told CNN on condition of anonymity.

At the same time, Trump himself mentioned the pardon in 2018 in the context of the ongoing investigation of his "ties" with Russia.

“As numerous legal scholars have said, I have every right to Pardon myself, but why should I do this if I didn’t do anything wrong?” The American president wrote on his Twitter.

As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong?

In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms!

- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2018

However, there have been no such precedents in political history.

When such a question arose in the context of the possible impeachment and prosecution of President Richard Nixon, the Justice Department noted that this would be contrary to one of the fundamental principles of jurisprudence.

"In accordance with the fundamental rule that no one can be a judge in his own case, the president cannot pardon himself," the agency's Legal Counsel Service reported in writing in August 1974.

Konstantin Blokhin, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, notes that in the political tradition of the United States, the outgoing president always realizes the possibility of pardoning convicts.

"Most likely, in the near future, the current president will also pardon Paul Manafort, because he, like Michael Flynn, was convicted because of the Democrats' desire to strike a strong blow at Trump," the expert noted.

However, such actions, as well as the order to remove the blocking from the process of transferring power to Biden's team, indicate that Trump realized that it was impossible to influence the outcome of the election, says Blokhin.

At the same time, statements by the American media that Trump wants to pardon himself should not be taken seriously, the political scientist believes.

“Most likely, this is a fake, which was created to discredit Trump.

The pardon could have been if Trump was facing prosecution.

But this is out of the question, so there is no need for him to pardon himself.

In addition, Biden said that in the future there will be no investigations and proceedings against Trump, ”the expert noted.

Yuri Rogulev, director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, agrees with this assessment of the American media reports.

“Trump has not been condemned by anyone, and no instance has the right to judge the current president.

They can bring charges against him only after the end of the presidential term, so it is not clear why he now needs this pardon, ”the political scientist concluded.