Former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn will provide 'full cooperation' to Special Counsel Robert Mueller in his Russia probe after his stunning guilty plea in federal court Friday morning.

'My guilty plea and agreement to cooperate with the special counsel’s office reflect a decision I made in the best interest of my family and of our country. I accept full responsibility for my actions,' Flynn said in a statement.

Flynn plead guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., in the latest bombshell development in the Russia investigation that has ensnared leading advisors of President Donald Trump.

Although he pleaded guilty to just a single count, it is what Flynn was prepared to tell investigators that immediately exploded across the political landscape.

Flynn has promised to provide 'full cooperation' to Mueller's team, ABC News reported.

Here to deal: Mike Flynn and his wife Lori arrived in court in Washington D.C. to plead guilty to a federal judge of lying to the FBI. He faces five years - but is almost certain to have made a deal with Robert Mueller which could implicate others

Guilty: Criminal liar Mike Flynn arrives at court in Washington D.C. to plead guilty to lying to the FBI, an offense carrying up to five years in prison

Back with his family: Mike Flynn and his wife headed to the Alexandria, Virginia, home of their son Mike Flynn Jr after pleading guilty, and greeted their grandson Travis with a kiss.

What did his son get? Mike Flynn's pleas combined with his son's role in the Trump campaign will raise questions over whether he used the plea deal to save Mike Flynn Jr - who tweeted Pizzagate conspiracy theories - from being charged

Flynn is facing extraordinary legal and financial pressures. According to the report, he was facing 'serious financial problems' and wanted to do the 'right thing for his country.'

I LET DOWN MY COUNTRY BUT I'M NOT A TRAITOR: FLYNN'S EXTRAORDINARY STATEMENT... After over thirty-three years of military service to our country including five years in combat away from my family and then my decision to continue to serve the United States, it has been extraordinarily painful to endure these many months of false accusations of treason and other outrageous acts. Such false accusations are contrary to everything I’ve ever done and stood for. But I recognize that the actions I acknowledged in court today were wrong. Through my faith in God I am working to set things right. My guilty plea and agreement to cooperate with the special counsel’s office reflect a decision I made in the best interest of my family and of our country. I accept full responsibility for my actions.' Advertisement

...HE'S AN OBAMA OFFICIAL WHO LIED TO TRUMP TOO: HOW PRESIDENT'S LAWYER TY COBB HIT BACK Today, Michael Flynn, a former National Security Advisor at the White House for 25 days during the Trump Administration, and a former Obama administration official, entered a guilty plea to a single count of making a false statement to the FBI. The false statements involved mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in his resignation in February of this year. Nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn. Advertisement

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office charged Flynn with lying to the FBI about Russia as well as efforts to derail a UN Security Council resolution, in the second major legal action against a top Trump campaign or White House official.

Flynn said in a statement: 'After over thirty-three years of military service to our country including five years in combat away from my family and then my decision to continue to serve the United States, it has been extraordinarily painful to endure these many months of false accusations of treason and other outrageous acts.'

'Such false accusations are contrary to everything I’ve ever done and stood for,' Flynn said.

'But I recognize that the actions I acknowledged in court today were wrong. Through my faith in God I am working to set things right. My guilty plea and agreement to cooperate with the special counsel’s office reflect a decision I made in the best interest of my family and of our country. I accept full responsibility for my actions,' he continued.

White House lawyer Ty Cobb issued a blistering statement calling Flynn – who as a defense intelligence official was fired by President Obama only to be hired by Trump – a 'former Obama administration official.

'Today, Michael Flynn, a former National Security Advisor at the White House for 25 days during the Trump Administration, and a former Obama administration official, entered a guilty plea to a single count of making a false statement to the FBI,' said Cobb.

'The false statements involved mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in his resignation in February of this year. Nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn.,' the president's lawyer said.

'The conclusion of this phase of the Special Counsel's work demonstrates again that the Special Counsel is moving with all deliberate speed and clears the way for a prompt and reasonable conclusion.'

According to a statement of the offense released by Mueller's office, Flynn on December 29 called a member of Trump's presidential transition team, who was with other senior transition members at Mar-a-Lago.

Flynn and the officials discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia, as well as 'the potential impact of those sanctions on the incoming administration’s foreign policy goals’ and that members of the transition ‘did not want Russia to escalate the situation.’

Immediately after the call, according to the statement of offense, Flynn called Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak and requested that Russia 'not escalate the situation.'

On December 30, just days later, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a statement stating Russia would not take retaliatory action – the preference Flynn heard about from Mar-a-Lago.

Flynn's plea shook political Washington, even as it sent Wall Street into a tailspin.

The White House had planned a 'pool spray' of the president's meeting with Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj of Libya, but abruptly cancelled an event with cameras and reporters Friday morning.

The Dow Jones industrial average briefly dropped 350 points, although it closed down only 41 points on the day.

A judge accepted Flynn's guilty plea Friday morning, CNN reported. The maximum sentence is five years.

'Yes, sir,' Flynn, a retired three-star general said when the judge asked about his guilty plea.

Judge Rudolph Contreras accepted the plea and said: 'There will be no trial and there will be probably no appeal,' AFP reported.

According to an information released by Mueller's office, Flynn willfully made 'false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements in a matter within the jurisdiction' of the U.S. government, including the FBI.

Family support: Mike Flynn's wife Lori was at his side as he arrived in court. The two were high school sweethearts and married in 1981

Ready to deal: Mike Flynn, whose brief White House career is now being subjected to Robert Mueller's forensic scrutiny is in cout and due to plead guilty to lying to the FBI

This is it: Rober Muller is netting his biggest fish as he takes down Mike Flynn, who was Trump's National Security Advisor, with a guilty plea to a small count - a clear sign a deal is in the works

Received the lies: Sergey Kislyak was Russia's ambassador to the U.S. when Flynn spoke to him before Trump's inauguration. Four days later Flynn lied to the FBI about what he said to the Putin diplomat

Flynn arrived at court in Washington, D.C., with his wife Lori at his side.

The nature of the charge, which did not come from a federal grand jury, immediately raised the possibility of a guilty plea that would involve cooperation with Mueller's expansive probe.

The stunning development put a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general and close friend of the president in a criminal courtroom and planting the sprawling investigation led by the no-nonsense former FBI director squarely in the White House.

TEAM TRUMP FOR PRISON 2018: THE AIDES FACING JAIL ALREADY - SO WHO WILL MUELLER TARGET NEXT? PAUL MANAFORT Trump campaign manager March - August 2016 Manafort, 68, was charged with conspiracy against the US, conspiracy to launder, and other charges, after US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia undertook a campaign of hacking and misinformation to tilt the election in Trump's favor. He pleaded not guilty in October to a 12-count indictment by a federal grand jury. RICK GATES Business associate and deputy to Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort Gates, 45, was indicted along with his business associate, Paul Manafort after the first charges from the probe of possible Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election were unsealed. He pleaded not guilty to a 12-count indictment GEORGE PAPADOPOULOS Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, March 2016 - January 2017 Papadopoulos, 30, pleaded guilty on October 5 to making false statements to investigators about his conversations with overseas sources about potential Russian dirt on Hillary Clinton.


It also brought to fruition something the president sought to avoid. Fired FBI Director James Comey testified that Trump told him Feb. 14 about Flynn: 'I hope you can let this go.'

Flynn's hearing took place before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras at a D.C. federal courthouse.

According to the information, which includes just a single count, Flynn lied just days before President Trump took office about his contacts with Russia's then ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak.

Mueller's team has been investigating Russian interference in the U.S. elections, as well as possible obstruction of justice and other issues.

According to the feds, Flynn stated that on December 29 he 'did not ask the Government of Russia's Ambassador to the United States ('Russian Ambassador') to refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions that the United States had imposed against Russia that same day.'

That relates to the sanctions President Obama slapped on Russia shortly before leaving office for election interference.

Flynn also stated that he 'did not recall the Russian Ambassador subsequently telling him that Russia had chosen to moderate its response to those sanctions as a result of his request.'

Russia ultimately chose that course of action, failing to retaliate even after Obama confiscated diplomatic compounds that Trump would later return.

Flynn's contacts with Russia took place while the prior administration was already in place – and Trump and his team did not yet have formal governing power.

Flynn also stated that in an additional instance, on December 22, 2016, he 'did not ask the Russian Ambassador to delay the vote on or defeat a pending United National Security Council resolution; and that the Russian Ambassador subsequently never described to Flynn Russia's response to his request.'

The Security Council resolution condemned Israel for new settlement activity. In a rare diplomatic break from a key ally, the Obama administration abstained from the resolution.

According to a report in Foreign Policy, Trump's transition team vigorously tried to lobby against the resolution, breaking with tradition that the U.S. government speak with one diplomatic voice.

Flynn himself called foreign ambassadors of security council members, including Uruguay and Malaysia.

According to the information, Flynn made his false statements to the FBI on January 24 of this year – just four days after Trump took office.

According to the statement of offense, a 'very senior' member of the transition 'directed' Flynn to reach out to foreign leaders about the UN resolution – 'including Russia' – to find out where the leaders stood.

Lying to the FBI is a felony charge which carries a fine and up to five years in prison.

In March, Flynn's attorney, Robert Kellner, stated with respect to congressional investigators probing Russia that 'General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should the circumstances permit,' implying a willingness to cooperate.

Investigators early on focused not only on Flynn, but on his son, Michael Flynn, Jr.

CNN reported last month that Flynn was concerned about legal exposure born by his son.

The information released by the FBI does not mention other areas reportedly under investigation – including including potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Flynn filed amended reports after disclosures of work he had done on behalf of the government of Turkey.

A critical person in Trump's campaign and national security team, Flynn was present for consequential decisions during the formative days of the administration and functioned as a main conduit for contacts with Russian officials.

He could be an essential witness for Mueller as he investigates potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.

In recent days White House lawyers have downplayed the significance of Flynn's legal troubles for the president, drawing a clear line between Flynn's personal baggage and his work on the Trump campaign and the administration.

The feeling of suspense around the Mueller investigation only deepened this week with the cancellation of grand jury testimony, an ABC News report that Flynn's attorney was meeting with Mueller's team and the revelation Wednesday that Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had been questioned about Flynn earlier this month by special counsel prosecutors.

The cutting of contact with Trump's legal team came last week after Kushner was questioned by Mueller's investigators, which occurred earlier this month.

In the Oval: Mike Flynn was photographed in the Oval Office with then chief strategist Steve Bannon. He had lied to the FBI just four days earlier

Notorious figure: Kisylak (right) was in communication with Flynn before Trump took office - but long after the inauguration he was invited to the Oval Office with Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, for a meeting with Trump which was photographed by Russian media, not American reporters

Key figure: Flynn worked for Turkey whose president Recep Tayyip Erdogan will now move into the spotlight of the Russia collusion probe but Putin remains in the spotlight

Spoke to Mueller: Jared Kushner spent 90 minutes speaking to Mueller's prosecutors about Flynn and whether there was any exculpatory information on him

The questioning was brief - 90 minutes or less - and tightly focused on Flynn. It was in part aimed at determining whether Kushner had any exculpatory information on Flynn, according to a person familiar with Mueller's investigation.

Kushner and Flynn were both prominent figures in the Trump campaign, the presidential transition and the early days of the Trump administration.

The two also took part in discussions during the presidential transition with Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the United States at the time, about establishing a backchannel between the two countries, a possible indication of prosecutors' interest given Mueller's mandate to probe contacts between Trump associates and the Kremlin.

Flynn was forced to resign from the White House in February after officials concluded that he had misled them about his contacts with Kislyak during the transition period.

Weeks before he was fired, he was interviewed by the FBI about that communication, and former FBI Director James Comey has said Flynn was under investigation for potentially lying to federal agents about the nature of their conversation.

Mueller's grand jury had planned in coming days to hear testimony from an employee of a public relations company that worked with Flynn's firm on $530,000 worth of lobbying and investigative research for a Turkish businessman.

The testimony was slated to focus on Flynn's firm's interactions with congressional staff. But it was abruptly postponed by prosecutors.

The details of Kushner's questioning and the postponement of the grand jury testimony were confirmed by people familiar with Mueller's investigation.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing investigation.

Asked about the meeting with Mueller, Kushner's attorney, Abbe Lowell, did not elaborate on the nature of the question, saying only in a statement his client 'has voluntarily cooperated with all relevant inquiries and will continue to do so.'

Mueller's spokesman, Peter Carr, has yet to comment on the special counsel's ongoing investigation that has now stretched into its seventh month.

Instead, the special counsel has decided to speak in indictments and plea agreements. In the meantime, Washington - and the country - wait for the next one.

BY ALANA GOODMAN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Mike Flynn was a three-star decorated Army general and the guardian of America’s top military secrets – and now he is poised to end his career with a sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty to lying to federal investigators.

The 58-year-old Army veteran worked his way up the military ranks for over three decades, from second lieutenant in military intelligence in 1981 until he retired as a three-star lieutenant general in 2014.

He has served in both Democratic and Republican administrations. He was appointed by President Obama as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012 to 2014, the agency that oversees U.S. military intelligence operations.

But that tenure ended in a bitter firing amid claims that he veered into conspiracy theories. Others laughed about ‘Flynn facts’, the fake claims he had fallen for despite being at the pinnacle of military intelligence.

Flynn’s tenure in the Trump administration was considerably shorter – and even more disastrous for all concerned.

Mike Flynn was a three-star decorated Army general and the guardian of America’s top military secrets – and now he is poised to end his career with a sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty to lying to federal investigators

Mike Flynn and his wife Lori arrived in court in Washington D.C. on Friday to plead guilty to a federal judge of lying to the FBI. He faces five years - but is almost certain to have made a deal with Robert Mueller which could implicate others

According to the information, which includes just a single count, Flynn lied just days before President Trump took office about his contacts with Russia's then ambassador to the U.S.

In this image made from a video taken on December 10, 2015 and made available on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, Michael Flynn, left, sits next to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow

He lasted just 24 days as President Trump’s National Security Advisor before he was fired amid allegations that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russian officials during the presidential transition.

The conservative movement’s embrace of Flynn – an Obama-era official and lifelong Democrat until he led the ‘lock her up’ chants at the Republican convention in 2016 – was just one of the unexpected spectacles of the last election cycle.

Flynn’s tough-talking approach to national security and his vocal denunciations of political Islam and his public clashes with the Obama administration endeared him to many on the political right.

But Flynn’s time as a conservative icon was short-lived. He was ousted as Trump’s National Security Advisor in February, and has been under investigation by federal law enforcement and congress over the past year.

Now Flynn faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to lying to federal investigators about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

Flynn was born in December 1958. His parents, who he once described as strong Democrats, traveled the world for his World War II veteran father’s military career before settling down in Middletown, Rhode Island.

Growing up, Flynn shared bunk beds and a small bedroom with his brother Chris – he is one of nine children, who remain close - before he left home to attend college at the University of Rhode Island.

Flynn was known among friends and family members as the more outgoing brother, according to a 2011 profile of the former general in the Newport Daily News. He also loved ‘cheap cars’ and ‘pizza’ and rock music – especially the songs of Lou Reed.

In this undated photo provided by Joe Flynn, Michael Flynn, left, stands with his mother Helen Flynn, right, near a football field, in Middletown, Rhode Island

Packed in: The Flynns were brought up in this 1,200 square ft beach house, which his mother Helen ran as a 'bunkhouse', his brother Jack said

One family member told the paper that Flynn’s outlook was largely shaped by the ‘scrappy, no BS Irish-Catholic humble start [he] had in Newport.’ Flynn went on to attend the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, and was commissioned into the Army as an intelligence officer in 1981.

Growing up so close to the ocean in Rhode Island, Flynn, along with his siblings, became strong swimmers and surfers. And the retired military man became known for his skateboarding style and boldness in the water.

And while he was at the center of the Mueller probe in July, months before he was charged, Flynn was spotted surfing with his sister.

His military career eventually took him to Washington, where he served as the president’s intelligence advisor for the Joint Staff from 2007 to 2008, and later as an intelligence advisor on Afghanistan.

Flynn became a three-star general – one of 230 active Army generals at the time – and was appointed to lead the Defense Intelligence Agency by President Obama in 2012.

Flynn lasted just two years at the agency before his military career ended when Obama dismissed him as defense intelligence chief in 2014.

Flynn claimed he was pushed out for holding tougher views than the Obama administration about Islamic extremism, others claim it was due to his clashes with others in the administration and ‘turbulence’ at the agency – including the damaging intelligence leaks from Edward Snowden in 2013.

One of Flynn's brother revealed the ex-three star general did not want to take national security role but Trump pressed him

Flynn set up a company accepting speaking fees from Russian entities after he was forced from service into retirement by Obama administration in 2014

Writing an op-ed for the New York Post in July 2016, Flynn said: 'The military fired me for calling our enemies radical jihadis. I knew then it had more to do with the stand I took on radical Islamism and the expansion of al Qaeda and its associated movements.

He blamed his dismissal on 'the bureaucracy' and said that things had gotten 'too politicized.'

After leaving the Obama administration, Flynn went into private sector and founded a lobbying and consulting firm called Flynn Intel Group. That decision now seems to have set in motion his doom.

His clients have included foreign businesses, including a Dutch firm with ties to the Turkish government.

The company, Inovo, owned by Turkish-American businessman Ekim Alpetkin, paid Flynn over $500,000 last fall to lobby on its behalf.

Flynn, who was also advising the Trump campaign at the time, was asked by the company to conduct research into Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, an adversary of Turkish President Recep Erdogan.

Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, has been accused of engineering an unsuccessful coup against Erdogan. Flynn was reportedly hired to investigate Gulen and put together a film about the case.

Although Flynn registered as a lobbyist, he did not register as a foreign agent at the time.

He retroactively filed foreign agent registration papers this year, after his attorney’s acknowledged the project’s potential benefit to the Turkish government and Alpetkin’s links to Turkish officials.

Investigators early on focused not only on Flynn, but on his son, Michael Flynn Jr (pictured with Flynn), making the military man concerned about legal exposure born by his son

Flynn Jr has propagated the view that Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, according to CNN

He has also speculated that Sen. Marco Rubio, who lost to Trump in the Republican primary campaign, was secretly gay and indulged in cocaine

Flynn has also come under fire for accepting $35,000 from the Russian state-sponsored news channel RT to speak at its 10th anniversary gala in Moscow in 2015. Damningly, he sat beside Putin.

Over the past few years, Flynn had grown increasingly vocal in his criticism of political Islam and its connection to terrorism.

In 2016, Flynn called Islamism a ‘vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people’ that ‘has to be excised.’

Flynn became a prominent surrogate for Donald Trump during the 2016 election, at one point drawing speculation that he might be chosen as a vice presidential candidate.

He admitted he submitted his name for consideration, despite being registered as a Democrat.

He ultimately joined the Trump campaign as an advisor and gave a speech supporting the candidate at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

During the campaign, Flynn often denounced Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server to send classified information while serving as secretary of state. At one rally, he encouraged the audience’s chants of ‘lock her up!’ and declared, ‘If I did a tenth of what she did, I’d be in jail today.’

Flynn’s son, Mike Flynn Jr., went further with his criticism of Clinton, and his comments became a magnet for controversy during the campaign and the presidential transition.

The younger Flynn, who worked alongside his father on the presidential transition and the Trump campaign, appeared to endorse the ‘Pizzagate’ internet theory promoted by critics of Clinton last December.

The theory alleged that Hillary Clinton aide John Podesta was involved in a child sex trafficking ring supposedly run out of the Comet Ping Pong pizza restaurant in Washington, D.C.

Although the theory was never substantiated, one man was arrested last winter for carrying a gun to the restaurant and firing several shots after reading about the ‘Pizzagate’ allegations online. Nobody was injured and the man was arrested and taken into custody on the spot.

‘Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it'll remain a story. The left seems to forget #PodestaEmails and the many "coincidences" tied to it,’ wrote Flynn Jr. on Twitter.

Flynn Jr. also previously claimed on Twitter that minorities only voted for Obama because of his skin color, and promoted theories that Marco Rubio used cocaine and participated in ‘gayish’ dance parties.

Flynn Jr. was let go by the Trump transition team last December, shortly before his father was tapped as Trump’s National Security Advisor in January.

The elder Flynn lasted less than a month in the job before he was fired for allegedly misleading Vice President Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

But those days when he did serve saw him at the heart of the administration. ‘He was always in the room, and on every call,’ one official told The New Yorker.

That may be what will make Trump and those around him sweat most.

Mike Flynn's son Mike Jr posted this picture in June of the disgraced national security adviser and his sister Barbara Redgate surfing in June

The Flynn family grew up surfing on Rhode Island where they lived in Middletown and Mike was known for his willingness to go into riskier waters

Flynn is from an Irish Catholic family of blue-collar Democrats. Pictured: Flynn at a church in Ohio in 2016

Mike Flynn's wife Lori was at his side as he arrived in court. The two were high school sweethearts and married in 1981

Federal officials say Flynn had multiple contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak after the election and during Trump’s presidential transition. The calls between Flynn and Kislyak were allegedly intercepted through intelligence gathering by the Obama administration.

Flynn’s name was later released to the Washington Post – which reported that Flynn and the Russian ambassador discussed the possibility of the Trump administration repealing Russian sanctions.

According to federal investigators, Flynn asked Russian Ambassador Kislyak to hold off on any political retaliation last December in response to the Obama administration’s decision to increase sanctions on Russia in the wake of the presidential election.

The Obama administration had placed the sanctions on Russia last year, after multiple U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that the Russian government was involved in hacking the Democratic National Committee.

Intelligence officials claimed Russia released thousands of embarrassing emails to Wikileaks related to the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton, in an attempt to tip the presidential election in favour of Trump.

Prosecutors said Flynn also asked the Russian ambassador to delay voting on a UN resolution that was critical of Israel during a conversation last Dec. 22, but told investigators that he did not recall discussing this.

A US official said that Flynn was in frequent contact with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak on the day the Obama administration imposed sanctions on Russia after US intelligence reported that Russia had interfered with the US elections

These revelations came shortly after Vice President Mike Pence publicly defended Flynn and said the National Security Advisor did not discuss sanctions with Russian officials.

After the Washington Post report, Flynn was fired and administration officials said he had lied to the vice president.

At the time, Flynn’s lawyers dismissed the allegations as ‘unfounded allegations, outrageous claims of treason, and vicious innuendo.’ Flynn has not publicly commented on the matter since February.

But he was clearly deeply in trouble, and financially close to ruin. He and his family launched an appeal for cash for his defense fund, and while his son told how his father was surfing regularly, in reality he was sweating over his own and his family’s future.

Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators about the conversations on Friday.

Flynn is the second subject to plead guilty in connection to the Mueller probe. Former Trump national security advisor George Papadopoulos also pleaded guilty in October for lying about his Russian contacts.

Former Trump campaign officials Paul Manafort and Rick Gates pleaded not guilty to financial-related crimes in October.