FILE PHOTO: Former national security adviser Michael Flynn exits a vehicle as he arrives for his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., December 18, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was tormented by “dirty cops” as part of the probe into whether Russia helped Trump win the White House in 2016.
The president’s comments in the Oval Office, latest in a string of remarks about Flynn, could increase the changes that the retired general could get a presidential pardon.
Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to making false statements in a charge brought by then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He now insisted he did not lie and wants to back out of the plea.
Reporting by Jeff Mason, Editing by Franklin Paul