US President Donald Trump has pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
The president said the widely expected act of clemency was his “Great Honor”.
Mr Flynn was among former aides to President Trump convicted during a justice department investigation into alleged Russian election interference.
He admitted in 2017 to lying to the FBI about contacts with Russia’s envoy, then tried to withdraw his plea.
The White House said on Wednesday that the pardon would finally end “the relentless, partisan pursuit of an innocent man”.
Its statement described Mr Flynn as “the victim of partisan government officials engaged in a co-ordinated attempt to subvert the election of 2016”.
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Mr Flynn responded by posting a tweet containing a US flag emoji and a Biblical verse, Jeremiah 1:19.
The verse says: “‘They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,’ declares the Lord.”
A 22-month justice department investigation concluded in 2019 there was no evidence to establish that Mr Trump or any of his associates had conspired with the Kremlin to win the 2016 election.
Who is Michael Flynn?
The retired US Army three-star lieutenant general was an early and ardent supporter of Mr Trump during the 2016 campaign, though he had been a life-long Democrat before.
Mr Flynn was among the new president’s first appointments – Mr Trump brought him on just days after winning the election.
The two saw eye-to-eye on many issues, including the advantages of closer ties with Russia, renegotiating the Iran nuclear deal and combating the threat from Islamic State militants.
But he lasted just 23 days as national security adviser, the president’s chief counsellor on international affairs and defence.
Mr Trump fired him after it emerged that he had discussed lifting sanctions on Russia with Moscow’s ambassador to Washington before Mr Trump took office, and misled the vice-president about that conversation.
Although he initially agreed to co-operate with prosecutors, Mr Flynn asked to withdraw his guilty plea in January this year, arguing he had been duped into the agreement.
The Department of Justice had sought for his charges to be dropped, prompting a legal battle that ran for much of 2020. Mr Trump’s pardon clears Mr Flynn of the whole case.
Former President Barack Obama said he warned Mr Trump against hiring the former general less than 48 hours after the November 2016 election.
Mr Flynn’s supporters see him as the victim of a political vendetta by the outgoing Obama administration to de-legitimise the incoming Trump administration with claims of Russian collusion.
Who else has Trump pardoned or commuted?
Pardons wipe out a conviction while commutations lessen the punishment – both are clemency rights granted to the president by the Constitution.
It is common for outgoing presidents to issue pardons.