In a reversal, the Justice Department has recommended up to six months of prison time for ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn—claiming he has refused to “accept responsibility” for his actions.
“Given the serious nature of the defendant’s offense, his apparent failure to accept responsibility, his failure to complete his cooperation in—and his affirmative efforts to undermine—the prosecution of Bijan Rafiekian, and the need to promote respect for the law and adequately deter such criminal conduct, the government recommends that the court sentence the defendant within the applicable Guidelines range of 0 to 6 months of incarceration,” federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo on Tuesday.
The filing represents a stark change from a prior Justice Department recommendation, which suggested that Flynn “receive a sentence at the low end of the Guidelines range.” Federal prosecutors, in suggesting Flynn not serve any prison time, had cited his cooperation with other federal cases, including Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
But Flynn’s sentencing has since dragged on for months and faced numerous delays.
Recently, Flynn’s defense attorney Sidney Powell has aggressively fought back, pushing to have his prosecution dismissed.
“The government seeks to punish Mr. Flynn for telling the truth when it wasn’t what the prosecutors wanted to hear,” Powell told Fox News in an email on Tuesday. “This is outrageous.”
Flynn’s case stemmed from a 2017 FBI interview, in which Flynn was asked about his conversations with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn ultimately pleaded guilty to making false statements regarding those conversations during his interview, as part of Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Flynn is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 28 in a D.C. federal court by Judge Emmet Sullivan.
Sullivan in December had rejected claims from Flynn’s lawyers that he was pressured to plead guilty to lying to federal investigators about his contacts with a Russian diplomat. His lawyers had also claimed the government withheld critical evidence that may have favored their client.
In its new sentencing memorandum, the DOJ wrote, “The defendant’s conduct was more than just a series of lies; it was an abuse of trust,” adding, “The government acknowledges that the defendant’s history of military service, and his prior assistance to the government, though not substantial, may distinguish him from these other defendants. The government asks the Court to consider all of these factors, and to impose an appropriate sentence.”
Flynn’s lawyers will respond with their own sentencing recommendation in the next few days.
He is one of six former Trump associates charged as part of the Mueller probe. All have either been convicted or pleaded guilty.
Fox News’ Bill Mears contributed to this report.