Former national security adviser Michael Flynn said at a campaign event Friday that he would not gripe about how he’s been “mistreated” during his first public appearance since he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts.

“Not here to complain about who has done me wrong or how I’ve been mistreated,” Flynn said during a campaign event Friday evening for Republican California congressional candidate, Omar Navarro.



“Not here to complain about who has done me wrong or how I’ve been mistreated” — Michael Flynn speaking to California republicans. https://t.co/bC9GgiLNHu — Matthew Fuhrman (@mfuhrman) March 16, 2018

The comment comes after a report revealed Peter Strzok, a top FBI counterintelligence agent who exchanged anti-Trump messages with his mistress, had a personal relationship with the federal judge who recused himself from overseeing Flynn’s case in Dec. 7 of last year.

The relationship between Strzok and U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras, who was appointed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, was disclosed in text messages between Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page, and obtained by Fox News.

Strzok’s job as a counterintelligence agent meant that he interacted with the FISC on a regular basis and the messages reveal that Strzok and Contreras both made appearances at a recent “graduation party.”

Less than a week before the recusal, on Dec. 1, 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty before Contreras for making misleading statements to the FBI about his Russian contacts as part of Mueller’s ongoing Russia probe. Strzok also served on Mueller’s inquiry team for a period of time, before being demoted after it was found that he exchanged text messages that were critical of President Trump.

Flynn resigned under pressure from his role as national security adviser in February 2017 after it was revealed he provided misleading information to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russian officials.