Late last month, fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn — under investigation by federal prosecutors, with his lawyer seeking immunity for him to testify to Congress — met with a small group of loyalists at a restaurant in the northern Virginia suburbs.

Saddled with steep legal bills, Flynn wanted to reconnect with old friends and talk about potential future business opportunities. But one overriding question among those present were his views on the president who had fired him from his national security advisor post.

Flynn left little doubt about the answer. Not only did he remain loyal to President Trump; he indicated that he and the president were still in communication. “I just got a message from the president to stay strong,” Flynn said after the meal was over, according to two sources who are close to Flynn and are familiar with the conversation, which took place on April 25.

The comment came at the end of an especially difficult day for Flynn, during which his legal woes appeared to grow: Two congressmen — House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings, D-Md. — after reviewing classified Pentagon documents, had just accused Flynn of failing to disclose foreign income from Russia and Turkey when he sought to renew his security clearance.

The sources who spoke to Yahoo News say Flynn did not indicate how Trump had sent the message —whether it was a written note, a text message, a phone call or some other method. (The White House did not respond to a request for comment.) But the fact that the two men have stayed in contact could raise additional questions about the president’s reported request to now former FBI Director James Comey to shut down a federal investigation of the retired Army general.

View photos House Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., left, and Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, speak to reporters about President Trump’s former national security advisor, Gen. Michael Flynn, on April 25, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images) More

Democrats and some legal commentators say that Trump’s request, as recorded by Comey in a memo — “I hope you can let this go” — could amount to an effort to obstruct a federal investigation that might ultimately implicate the president himself. Any ongoing contacts between Trump and Flynn are likely to be among the matters closely scrutinized by Robert Mueller, the ex-FBI director named late Wednesday as the new Justice Department special counsel in charge of the Russia investigation.

But friends of Flynn insist the president’s comment could also be viewed not as a deliberate effort to obstruct justice but a personal plea — however ill-advised — on behalf of a down-on-his luck friend who had stood by Trump throughout his campaign and is now ostracized by former associates and struggling to find new consulting work. “Basically what [Trump] was saying is, ‘Can you take it easy on my buddy?,’” said one friend of Flynn who has stayed in touch with him.

View photos National security adviser Gen. Michael Flynn arrives to deliver a statement during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 1, 2017. (Photo: Carlos Barria/Reuters) More

Either way, the sources say, Flynn has given no indication that he has any plans to turn on Trump to cut himself a deal for leniency. Speculation that he might do so was rampant in late March when his lawyer, Robert Kelner, confirmed that Flynn would be willing to be interviewed by the Senate Intelligence Committee, but only in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Kelner added in a public statement that his client “ certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it. ” (Kelner did not respond to a request for comment on this story. Senate intelligence committee chair Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., told reporters today that Flynn’s lawyer has indicated his client may not honor the panel’s subpoena for documents relating to its Russia investigation.)

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