Looks like Michael Flynn is going to rot in prison for a lot longer than we thought
Michael Flynn has already taken a get out of jail free card and turned it into a six month prison sentence, when he screwed up his very lenient cooperating plea deal at the end by sabotaging the trial of his former business partner Bijan Kian. Now Flynn has apparently decided that six months in prison isn’t long enough, because he’s making the one move that can hand him a much longer sentence.
It was difficult to imagine Judge Emmet Sullivan giving Michael Flynn much more than the six months in prison that prosecutors are now recommending. But now Flynn is formally requesting to withdraw his guilty plea. If the judge grants this, it’ll mean Flynn will have a criminal trial – and when he’s found guilty, he’ll get a much longer sentence, because he’ll get zero credit for his original plea deal. It could also mean that the additional criminal charges Flynn originally dodged with his plea deal will now be brought against him as he heads into trial.
Flynn will be very lucky if Judge Sullivan refuses his request, and simply sentences him to the six months he’s slated to get. If Flynn gets his way, he could rot in prison for years. It’s more clear than ever that Flynn isn’t playing with a full deck, and that he has no idea what’s good for him at this point.
Michael Flynn could be hanging onto the delusion that Donald Trump is going to magically pardon him. But Trump has consistently allowed his own co-conspirators to rot in prison, including Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen, rather than pardoning them. Trump appears to be afraid that pardoning a co-conspirator could set off a legal battle that could result in the courts ruling that he can’t pardon his family and/or himself on his way out the door.
