WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s former national security chief on Tuesday received a delay in sentencing for lying over Russian contacts, after a judge threatened him with stiff jail time and said: “You sold your country out.”
Russia collusion investigation head Robert Mueller had proposed Flynn receive no jail time for lying to investigators about his Moscow ties – and in his own pitch to the court last week, Flynn had requested the same.
But Judge Emmet Sullivan said Flynn had behaved in a “traitorous” manner and suggested he was prepared to deliver a tough sentence to the former three-star general, saying Flynn’s crime as a key White House player was far beyond those that lower-level Trump campaign aides had committed.
Sullivan gave Flynn the option to move ahead with sentencing, or put it of until the Mueller probe is more advanced and Flynn can better demonstrate his cooperation with the Russia collusion probe.
“I want to be frank with you, this crime is very serious,” Sullivan said. “I’m not hiding my disgust, my disdain.” “Arguably, you sold your country out.” AFP
