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Trump praises Barr for dropping Flynn's Trump-Russia case

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AP Washington
Last Updated : May 08 2020 | 7:24 PM IST

In an abrupt about-face, the Justice Department said it is dropping the criminal case against President Donald Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, abandoning a prosecution that became a rallying cry for the president and his supporters in attacking the FBI's Trump-Russia investigation.

The action Thursday was a stunning reversal for one of the signature cases brought by special counsel Robert Mueller.

It comes even though prosecutors for the past three years have maintained that Flynn lied to the FBI in a January 2017 interview about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

Flynn admitted as much, pleading guilty before later asking to withdraw the plea, and he became a key cooperator for Mueller as the special counsel investigated ties between Russia and Trump's 2016 political campaign.

Thursday's action was swiftly embraced by Trump, who has relentlessly tweeted about the outrageous case and last week pronounced Flynn exonerated," and it is likely to energize supporters of the president who have taken up the retired Army lieutenant general as a cause.

Trump praised Attorney General William Barr for abandoning the prosecution of Flynn.

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Bill Barr is a man of unbelievable credibility and courage and he's going to go down on the history books," Trump told Fox & Friends on Friday.

Trump said that if Barr had been his first attorney general, there would never have been a Russia probe.

He would have stopped it immediately, Trump said. Democrats, however, have complained that Barr is excessively loyal to the president.

Attorney General Barr's politicization of justice knows no bounds," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. She accused Barr's department of dropping the case to continue to cover up for the president."
In court documents filed Thursday, the Justice Department said that after reviewing newly disclosed information and other materials, it agreed with Flynn's lawyers that his interview with the FBI should never have taken place because his contacts with the Russian ambassador were entirely appropriate."

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First Published: May 08 2020 | 7:24 PM IST

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