Attorney general William Barr is said to have launched a review of second disgraced ally of Donald Trump, former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

As controversy continues to rage over the department of justice’s decision to seek a lesser sentence for Republican operative Roger Cohen after the online intervention of the president, it was reported the attorney general was now also reviewing the prosecution of the former army general.

The 61-year-old who spent less than a month as the president’s national security adviser before he was forced to resign, pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his conversations with a Russian envoy.

He was charged following a plea deal with prosecutors working with special counsel Robert Mueller, who launched an investigation into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 election, and possible collusion with Trump campaign.

Flynn’s sentencing has been delayed several times. In January, prosecutors indicated they were seeking a six-month jail term for him.

All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Show all 6 1 /6 All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Alan Dershowitz Dershowitz is a controversial American lawyer best known for the high-profile clients he has successfully defended. Those clients have included OJ Simpson, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein. One longtime Harvard Law associated told the New Yorker Dershowitz "revels in taking positions that ultimately are not just controversial but pretty close to indefensible." Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Ken Starr Starr became a household name in the 1990s as the independent counsel who led the investigation that led to Bill Clinton's impeachment. That investigation began as a look into a real estate scandal known as Whitewater, and eventually led to impeachment after Mr Clinton lied under oath about having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. AP All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Jay Sekulow Sekulow is the president's longtime personal attorney, and, now, personal lawyer in the White House. He has been accused by former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas of being "in the loop" during the Ukraine scandal. Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Pam Bondi Bondi is the former attorney general in Florida, and a longtime backer of the president's. She made a name for herself in Florida for taking hyper partisan stances on issues, and her penchant for publicity. She is likely to be a prominent public-facing figure during the trial. AFP/Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Pat Cipollone Cipollone is the White House counsel, and leading the president's defence team. Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Rudy Giuliani While not officially named as one of the president's impeachment lawyers, it is hard to ignore Giuliani's outsized role in this process. The former mayor of New York has been making headlines for months as he defends his client, and for his apparent role in the effort to compel Ukraine to launch the investigation into Joe Biden. We'll see how he figures in the actual trial, which he has said he would like to be a part of. Reuters

Yet a week later, Flynn withdrew his guilty plea, alleging prosecutors had acted in bad faith.

“Michael Flynn hereby moves to withdraw his plea because of the government’s bad faith, vindictiveness, and breach of the plea agreement,” wrote lawyer Sidney Powell.

On Friday, the New York Times said Mr Barr, who on Thursday gave an interview to ABC News in which he said he found it impossible to do his job amid the president’s tweets, an appearance many suspect was the administration’s attempt at damage control, was reviewing other cases.

It said among the cases he had requested be reopened was that of Flynn.

Sarah Sanders says the FBI broke protocol when interviewing Michael Flynn

“The review is highly unusual and could trigger more accusations of political interference by top justice department officials into the work of career prosecutors,” the article said.

It added that Mr Barr had installed a handful of outside prosecutors to broadly review the handling of other politically sensitive national-security cases in the US attorney’s office in Washington.

The DoJ has yet to comment on the matter.

Earlier this, all four prosecutors associated with the Stone case quit, or removed themselves from that specific project.

Meanwhile, on Friday the president claimed he had the right to interfere in a case if he wished.