Trump's Flynn payout could come back to haunt DOJ as same deal now awaits top foe: expert
Donald Trump delivers remarks in the Oval Office. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
March 26, 2026
President Donald Trump's Justice Department settled a frivolous lawsuit with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn this week, paying him over $1 million after he claimed he had been politically prosecuted for lying about his contacts with Russia. But in doing so, former prosecutor Kristy Greenberg told MS NOW's Alicia Menendez, they could open up deals of the same sort for Trump's political opponents, particularly New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has been the subject of prosecution for baseless mortgage fraud allegations from a Trump loyalist.
This comes as former FBI Director James Comey is once again targeted by a DOJ investigation, being subpoenaed regarding a so-called "grand conspiracy" against Trump.
"This is me looking for the rationale and the actual crime that Letitia James committed," said Menendez. "Kristy, you're a lawyer. Help me out. Where is the crime?"
"Well, apparently we're making up crimes these days," said Greenberg. "Grand conspiracy is not a thing. It's not a crime. So I guess we're just going through the statute of frauds. We didn't get there on mortgage fraud. Now we're going to do insurance fraud, and we'll just keep going until maybe something sticks. I mean, you know, there is nothing here."
"And ultimately — I mean, it's not just that judges threw it out, grand juries when it was presented before them multiple times, also said we will not go forward and indict, but they are not looking to stop," said Greenberg. "They are looking to, really at this point, I think it's pretty clear, harass and intimidate and drag her reputation through the mud. And I think that at this point, we are at the point where it's clearly harassment."
"And I think that just as we saw Michael Flynn getting a payout in a settlement," she added. "In a future DOJ, I think you're going to see the same thing for Tish James. She can move for attorney's fees for expenses to be able to say this is vindictive prosecution, this is frivolous, this was brought in bad faith, and yeah, you need to pay my expenses because this is ridiculous."