If former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn isn't granted immunity in exchange for testifying before the Senate Intelligence Community, could he simply obstruct justice and then hope for a presidential pardon from President Donald Trump?
Robert Kelner, an attorney at Covington & Burling LLP who is serving as Flynn's counsel, predicted in 2016 that Trump as president would expand the use of presidential pardons in ways that the country had never seen before.
"A prediction: Donald Trump will make novel and unusual use of the President's pardon power," he wrote last November, in a tweet cited by Bruce Bartlett on Friday morning.
Kelner also went on to describe presidential pardons as "an under-utilized tool of political power."
Trump on Friday encouraged Flynn to seek immunity in exchange for talking to the Senate, despite the fact that Trump believes the entire investigation is a "witch hunt."
Kelner released a statement on Thursday saying that Flynn "certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should the circumstances permit."
