‘Brazen abuse of power’: Pelosi slams Trump’s decision to pardon Michael Flynn

‘Great honour’ to pardon former national security adviser, says president

President Donald Trump's decision to pardon his former national security adviser Michael Flynn is a "brazen abuse of power", House speaker Nancy Pelosi has said.

In a statement issued on Thanksgiving Eve, Speaker Pelosi said Mr Trump had only used the pardon to protect those who "lie to cover up his wrongdoing".  

Mr Trump, 74, announced the pardon by tweet just hours earlier, saying it was a "great honour" to strike out the guilty plea of Flynn, who twice admitted lying to the FBI.

“Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!” he said.

The pardon comes in the dying days of Mr Trump's presidency and is the culmination of a four-year saga relating to his administration's alleged co-operation with Russia during the 2016 election campaign.

Mr Trump hired Flynn, 61, as his national security adviser in 2017 but fired him just weeks later, after it emerged he had lied to vice president Mike Pence and the FBI about his contacts with Russia.

The retired US Army lieutenant general pleaded guilty to making false statements to investigators in December 2017 and again in 2018.

“President Trump’s pardoning of Michael Flynn... is an act of grave corruption and a brazen abuse of power," speaker Pelosi continued in her statement.

"Trump is again using the pardon power to protect those who lie to cover up his wrongdoing, just as he did when he commuted the sentence of campaign advisor Roger Stone, who was convicted on seven felony counts."

Speaker Pelosi said that Flynn's actions constituted a "breach of our national security", adding that "he must be held accountable".

Flynn is alleged to have lied about conversations he had with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak following the 2016 election.

He is alleged to have asked Mr Kislyak to request that the Russian government respond leniently to US sanctions imposed for interfering in the election.

Flynn is also accused of not telling the Justice Department about lobbying for the Turkish government in 2016.

Despite admitting to lying twice, Flynn later tried to retract his guilty pleas, claiming that he had been set up by the FBI.  

He claims he is an innocent man, a view echoed by the White House in a statement.

“The President has pardoned General Flynn because he should never have been prosecuted," the statement read.

"In fact, the Department of Justice has firmly concluded that the charges against General Flynn should be dropped. This full pardon achieves that objective, finally bringing to an end the relentless, partisan pursuit of an innocent man.”

Other Democrat lawmakers condemned the pardoning. House judiciary committee chairman Jerry Nadler said: “This pardon is undeserved, unprincipled, and one more stain on President Trump’s rapidly diminishing legacy.”

Representative Adam Schiff said: "It's no surprise that Trump would go out just as he came in – crooked to the end."

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Flynn family said they were grateful to Mr Trump for “answering our prayers, and the prayers of a nation, by removing the heavy burden of injustice off the shoulders of our brother Michael, with a full pardon of innocence”.

While Flynn's means he is unlikely to go to jail, it does not mean he is not guilty.

A pardon is granted in recognition of the recipients "acceptance of responsibility for the crime”, according to the Department of Justice website.