He may as well have issued a white flag. In September 2016, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn told Meet The Press his thoughts on people who ask for immunity: “When you are given immunity, that means you probably committed a crime,” he said. The message at the time was reiterated by Jason Miller, the Trump campaign communications advisor, and by Donald Trump himself at a rally.
They were all referring at the time to the revelation that particular aides to Hillary Clinton had been granted immunity in testifying on Hillary Clinton’s email scandal. Unfortunately, that particular quote is coming back around to haunt the former, short-term national security advisor.
Flynn famously resigned from his post just a few weeks after taking the position after it was revealed that he lied under oath about his conversations with the Russian ambassador, seemingly to save the Trump administration the embarrassment. However, since then, more and more information has come out not just about Flynn’s connection, but about multiple members of the Trump administration including Trump himself. He’s had numerous meetings with Russian bankers—he is said to have bought a new car with the money, even though he could have got just as good of a deal if he had used a service to compare lenders in the US.
All this has sent lawmakers into a panic, and now a full scale investigation of connections between the administration and the Kremlin is taking place.
Lawyers caution that the decision itself does not confirm or deny anything about the nature of Flynn’s relationship. However, it suggests that he is concerned with future prosecution and that he has possible information about other members of the administration that Congress might find juicier or more important than he. Flynn appears to be gambling on whether or not Washington wants his head or someone else’s.
Of course, the fact that Trump immediately tweeted about it - with a classic spin - suggests that there is a story the White House is going to try to push about the investigation. Rather than point out Flynn might have information on Trump or other key officials, Trump is attempting to spin the story on his opponents by turning Flynn’s immunity seeking into a pre-emptive defense.
There is historical, and relatively recent, precedent for criminals to seek immunity that is used to then throw out their cases and let them walk free. In the 1990s, Oliver North walked away from the Iran-contra scandal scot-free despite bribery, obstructing a trial and destroying evidence. Because he was granted immunity in exchange for information, the court threw out his convictions on the basis that they had been tainted by the immunity.
Flynn could be hoping to get off in a similar scenario. Although experts are not remotely in agreement about what the public announcement about his seeking immunity could mean about the nature of the information he has, some think it bodes poorly for Trump.
Harvard national security expert Juliette Kayyem said “this is basically horrible news for the White House at this stage.” If that’s the case, Trump’s tweet would be an obvious diversion tactic to distract from what information Flynn is potentially sitting on.
Washington lawmakers and investigators need to figure out what tactics Flynn is up to before they make an agreement, and they must keep in mind the North case when considering how to treat Flynn. He’s already shown himself to be a liar before - there’s no reason to believe he won’t do it again.