Michael Flynn’s Guilty Plea: 10 Key Takeaways<br />Mr. Flynn will not receive credit for his cooperation until after it has ended, at which point Mr.<br />Mueller may — if Mr. Flynn has held up his end of the bargain — move to dismiss the other charges.<br />Unlike Mr. Papadopoulos, though, Mr. Flynn was a top adviser who was at the center of communication with Russia as well<br />as the potential obstruction of justice by President Trump in seeking to shut down the Flynn investigation itself.<br />Mr. Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, has been indicted,<br />but this is a plea, and Mr. Flynn’s cooperation — the real goal of bringing criminal charges — has been secured.<br />If Mr. Flynn testifies to this — ABC’s Brian Ross is reporting<br />that he will — it presents another impeachable offense along with the possible obstruction of justice.<br />Russia reportedly agreed and Mr. Kislyak told Mr. Flynn later<br />that it had chosen to moderate its response to the sanctions to make nice with the Trump team.<br />Rather, as we’ve known for weeks, the special counsel, Robert Mueller, believed he had sufficient evidence to indict<br />Mr. Flynn on a long list of criminal charges, including money laundering, tax offense and false statements.<br />Mr. Flynn, a former national security adviser, acknowledged that he was cooperating with the investigation.
