Michael Flynn Files $50 Million Claim Against Federal Government in Preview of Potential Lawsuit
Michael Flynn Files $50 Million Claim Against Federal Government in Preview of Potential Lawsuit

By Jack Phillips

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn filed a $50 million claim against the Department of Justice and FBI, claiming they engaged in “malicious prosecution” as his lawyer signaled that he may file a lawsuit.

A notification was filed Feb. 22 by Flynn (pdf), the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, naming the FBI, Justice Department, former special counsel Robert Mueller, the Executive Office of the President, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington.

Flynn’s lawyer, Jesse Binnall, told Just the News, which reported on the notification on May 15, that Flynn is prepared to file a lawsuit against the federal government if the Justice Department rejects his claim.

“For years government bureaucrats and left wing agitators believed they could attack General Flynn with impunity. No more,” he said, while adding that the claim is a prelude to a lawsuit. “If you wrongfully attack an American hero, then you should be held to account.”

Binnall added: “This Federal Tort Claims Act Action is just the beginning of that accountability. Lt. General Michael Flynn will no longer be the pin cushion of the radical left.”

The notice stated he’s seeking compensatory damages for lost past and future earnings or revenue, emotional distress, a lost opportunity to be a national security adviser, attorney fees and expenses, court costs, and restraints against his personal freedom.

“Of all of President Donald Trump’s appointees, the Obama White House hated Flynn the most,” said the filing from Flynn (pdf), who briefly served under the Trump administration as national security adviser.

In 2016, the FBI and other officials started to “express disdain for candidate Donald J. Trump and began to consider ways in which it could hamper Donald Trump as candidate or as President, were he to win the 2016 election.”

“As part of these efforts, the FBI began to target Flynn,” it also stated. “Flynn was no stranger to the FBI and its leadership, many of whom considered Flynn to be a personal enemy of the FBI and the success of their own FBI careers.”

Flynn initially pleaded guilty to charges of lying to the FBI and said he would cooperate with Mueller’s probe into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. Later, he asked to withdraw his plea when evidence emerged suggesting the federal law enforcement agency showed officials believed that Flynn actually didn’t lie to agents during the investigation.

However, federal officials, according to the filing, “initiated the prosecution despite knowing that Flynn had not made false statements, and it therefore had no reasonable belief that Flynn had committed the criminal offense and therefore no probable cause.”

Meanwhile, evidence showed that in early 2017, Flynn was the apparent subject of a meeting between former President Barack Obama, then-Vice President Joe Biden, and FBI officials in the Oval Office.

“During this meeting, the participants agreed to try to damage incoming President Trump and his new Administration, including by trying to prosecute Flynn, President-elect Trump’s incoming National Security Advisor, to cause him to resign as NSA, to cripple President Trump’s ability to implement national security and foreign affairs policy changes, and potentially to get Flynn to turn on President Trump,” Flynn’s filing stated. “They also agreed to withhold this agreement from the ‘transition team.’”

Eventually, in May 2020, the Department of Justice filed a motion to drop all charges against Flynn. Later that year, he was issued a presidential pardon by Trump before presiding federal Judge Emmet Sullivan dismissed the case in December 2020.

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