The Department of Justice is discussing a massive cash settlement with Michael Flynn over his prosecution for lying to the FBI about his foreign contacts.
The retired U.S. Army general and former national security adviser pleaded guilty Dec. 1, 2017, to one felony count of lying to the FBI about his conversations with Russia's ambassador and President Donald Trump pardoned him in late 2020, but Flynn is now seeking $50 million over what he alleges was a wrongful prosecution, reported Bloomberg.
“Rogue FBI actors orchestrated a politically motivated hoax to attempt to shatter his life, all while staging a soft coup against President Trump, draining millions in lost opportunities and legal fees from Flynn while the government lavished payouts on those very bad-faith saboteurs,” wrote Flynn's attorney, Jesse Binnall, in a court filing.
Binnall also represents former senior White House lawyer Stefan Passantino, who is also negotiating a settlement with the DOJ over his private work representing several witnesses in the congressional investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
"Passantino 'seeks accountability,'" according to Binnall, saying that his “30-year career of service and integrity was unblemished until zealots on the January 6 Unselect Committee peddled fabricated claims against him to advance a political agenda. Their actions destroyed his reputation, threatened his livelihood, and cost him millions — while protecting their enablers.”
The former deputy White House counsel from 2017 to 2018 represented former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who eventually changed lawyers and provided bombshell testimony against Trump during the 2022 hearings, and Passantino alleges that panel members and their staff violated his privacy by leaking nonpublic information to suggest he had advised her to provide misleading testimony.
"The negotiations mark a shift from the Justice Department’s position during the Biden administration, when government lawyers successfully fought both cases," Bloomberg reported. "Flynn lost the first round of his civil damages lawsuit last year. The U.S. attorney’s office in Atlanta was defending a judge’s decision to toss out Passantino’s claims as recently as June."
Their lawyers notified courts by September of the settlement talks with DOJ, which Bloomberg noted were another example of the administration working to provide legal legal relief and potentially taxpayer-funded compensation to the president's allies, and those efforts come as the Department of Justice targets perceived Trump enemies for prosecution.
However, the department is currently fighting a lawsuit filed by some Jan. 6 defendants affiliated with the Proud Boys paramilitary group seeking more than $100 million for what they allege was a “malicious” prosecution.
A federal judge has not yet ruled on DOJ's motion to dismiss the case.
