'Great honour': Donald Trump pardons former NSA Michael Flynn ahead of Thanksgiving

Incumbent US President Donald Trump, on November 25 (local time), granted “full pardon” to his former national security advisor Michael Flynn. In a tweet made ahead of Thanksgiving, the Republican leader mentioned that it was his “honour” to pardon Flynn and congratulated the lieutenant  General and his family. Flynn had, in 2017, testified about lying to FBI during a probe into Russian meddling in 2016 Presidential elections.

Later, Flynn, who was a part of trump administration for 22 days, took to Twitter to thank the American president. In a Twitter statement, the Flynn family said that  “they believe in the constitution of the United States and that justice in this remarkable Republic must prevail for all citizens-equally and always". In addendum, they also asserted that they were grateful to President Trump for "answering their prayers". 

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'Flynn is innocent' 

In 2017, Flynn had admitted lying to the FBI about his contact with the former Russian ambassador to the US and became a cooperating witness in Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in 2016 president election. However, White House in a statement said Flynn should "never have been prosecuted" in the first place reiterating that he was innocent.   

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"General Flynn should not require a pardon.  He is an innocent man.  Even the FBI agents who interviewed General Flynn did not think he was lying.  Multiple investigations have produced evidence establishing that General Flynn was the victim of partisan government officials engaged in a coordinated attempt to subvert the election of 2016", a White House statement read. 

"While today’s action sets right an injustice against an innocent man and an American hero, it should also serve as a reminder to all of us that we must remain vigilant over those in whom we place our trust and confidence.  The people who sit atop our intelligence and law enforcement agencies have tremendous power to affect the lives of their fellow citizens.  The American people must always take care to scrutinize their actions, to hold them accountable, and to ensure that they use their immense power to uphold the rule of law rather than to harass, persecute, and jail their political opponents in pursuit of partisan political agendas," it added.

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