Michael Flynn is cooperating with Mueller and eager to have case wrap up, court hears

Michael Flynn's lawyers confirmed Tuesday that he continues to work with the government and is eager to be sentenced and wrap up his case. Bloomberg/December 2017

WASHINGTON -- In Michael Flynn's first appearance in federal court since pleading guilty seven months ago, his lawyers confirmed that he continues to work with the government and is eager to be sentenced and wrap up his case.

But it was no clearer after Tuesday's hearing when President Donald Trump's former national security adviser's federal case will conclude.

Flynn's presence in court in Washington served to puncture ongoing speculation by conservative media that Flynn's prosecution is falling apart and that the retired Army lieutenant general may withdraw his guilty plea in special counsel Robert Mueller probe.

Flynn admitted in December to lying to the FBI about contacts with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, becoming one of the first Trump associates to cooperate -- and the highest-ranking official charged -- in Mueller investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

At Tuesday's hearing, Flynn attorney Robert Kelner told the judge his cooperation agreement with prosecutors remains in effect. "General Flynn is eager to proceed [to sentencing] when it is possible. With the cooperation agreement, it really is up to the government to make that determination," Kelner said.

Flynn has become an important exhibit for some Trump supporters who argue the former general was mistreated by the FBI as part of a wide-ranging conspiracy to undermine the president.

Some Republicans in Congress have been questioning whether Flynn was pressured unfairly to plead guilty. In May, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, complained in a letter that former FBI Director James Comey had told the committee in 2017 that the agents who interviewed Flynn about his interactions with the Russian ambassador "did not believe [Flynn] intentionally lied" about the conversation.

Flynn did not speak at Tuesday's hearing, and his lawyers filed nothing in advance to suggest that he has had any second thoughts about his plea or raised concerns before U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan of Washington.

Sullivan called for the hearing after defense and prosecutors jointly asked him on June 29 to begin sentencing preparations, while at the same time saying it still was too soon to set sentencing given the "status" of the ongoing investigation.

Sullivan asked why he should break with his usual practice, which is to set a sentencing date at the same time he launches the pre-sentencing review. Dissatisfied with both sides' response, Sullivan directed Flynn to come to court.

Sullivan also said he wanted a chance to meet Flynn for the first time and get to know the parties before sentencing. A different Washington judge, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras, took Flynn's plea Dec. 1, before recusing himself for undisclosed reasons.

The pre-sentencing report is an investigation into whether a person's background may warrant a harsher or more lenient sentence, takes 70 to 90 days to prepare and is a necessary step in the federal system before sentencing. However, prosecutors are not required to set a sentencing date even after the report is complete.

In a joint reply to the judge, prosecutor Brandon Van Grack and Flynn attorney Kelner had said that although they still wanted to postpone sentencing and could update Sullivan again about timing on Aug. 24, they had asked to launch the pre-sentence investigation because it would eventually help the court schedule move more quickly.

Prosecutors typically postpone sentencing for witnesses until their cooperation -- including testimony before a grand jury or at trial -- no longer is needed, and routinely do so jointly with cooperating defendants in submitting periodic status reports with a sentencing judge.

The August date "may come and go. That's fine as well, the court is not going to pressure parties to sentencing," Sullivan said. But whenever they did want to proceed, the judge said he could "schedule sentencing in 60 days, as opposed to the traditional 90 days."

"We would certainly welcome that, your honor," Kelner said.

"The government would welcome that too," Van Grack said.

If a 60-day clock for sentencing were to start on Aug. 24, that could see Flynn sentenced before November's Congressional elections.

The special counsel's office and Flynn have postponed three times so far -- not unusual in major investigations -- but the June postponement drew heightened scrutiny as the president's legal team weighed whether Trump will sit for an interview with the special counsel's office.

Mueller's office for months has sought to question the president about events that led to his decisions to oust Flynn and Comey, including scrutinizing possible efforts by Trump or others to impede the special counsel's probe, The Washington Post has reported.

In Flynn's case, neither party in court filings gave any sign of the state of talks with the president's lawyers.

Flynn resigned from his top White House post in February 2017 after the White House said that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials about his contacts with Kislyak.

His plea revealed that he was in touch with senior Trump transition officials before and after his communications with the ambassador. The pre-inauguration communications with Kislyak involved efforts to blunt Obama administration policy decisions -- on sanctions on Russia and a United Nations resolution on Israel -- potential violations of a rarely enforced law.