Washington (CNN) Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's first national security adviser, will not be sentenced on December 18 as previously planned, a federal judge said Wednesday, to await the release of an internal Justice Department report on FBI surveillance.

Judge Emmet Sullivan agreed with prosecutors and Flynn's lawyers, who asked for Flynn's long-awaited sentencing hearing to be delayed because they won't be fully prepared for it until the DOJ inspector general's report regarding FBI surveillance as part of its early Russia probe is published.

The inspector general's review is due out December 9. Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017, becoming an early and key cooperator in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

Flynn was set to be sentenced last December, but asked to delay the hearing after a judge reacted badly to his arguments. He could face prison time, though the Justice Department previously asked for him to avoid prison. It's possible the will prosecutors change that view this time around.

But before he can be sentenced, both the Justice Department and Flynn's legal team must file new overviews of his crime and cooperation in Mueller's investigation. Flynn's team has attempted in recent months to unravel his guilty plea for lying to investigator and has embraced conspiracy theories about the FBI investigation that eventually led to the interview in which he lied.

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