WASHINGTON (AP) A federal judge who described himself as disgusted by Michael Flynns behavior upended a straightforward sentencing hearing, postponing punishment for President Donald Trumps first national security adviser and telling him in a stinging rebuke, Arguably you sold your country out.
Lawyers for Flynn requested the delay Tuesday after a tongue-lashing from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan raised the prospect that Flynn could spend time behind bars for lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts.
Prosecutors hadnt recommended prison, but the hearing that began with the defendant upbeat and smiling took an unexpected turn when the judge said his sentence would take into account not just Flynns extensive cooperation with investigators but also the lies the Trump administration official told from the grounds of the White House.
I cant make any guarantees, but Im not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense, Sullivan said.
The postponement gave Flynn a chance to continue cooperating with the government in hopes of staving off prison and proving his value as a witness, including in a foreign-lobbying prosecution brought this week. The possibility of prison had seemed remote for Flynn since prosecutors had praised his cooperation, including 19 meetings with investigators.
But the judges upbraiding suggested otherwise and made clear that even defendants like Flynn who have cooperated in special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation may nonetheless be shadowed by the crimes that brought them into court in the first place. The hearing upset what had been a carefully crafted agreement and pushed months into the future a resolution of one of Muellers signature prosecutions.
This is a very serious offense. A high-ranking senior official of the government making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation while on the physical premises of the White House, Sullivan said.
