US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he has granted "full pardon" to Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser. Flynn was found guilty of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The pardon comes as Trump enters into the last leg of his presidency.
The President congratulated Flynn, the retired Army lieutenant general, and wished him "a truly fantastic Thanksgiving".
"It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon," said Trump in a tweet.
Flynn reacted by tweeting "Jeremiah 1:19," a Bible verse alluding to a holy rescue, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The president's decision will bring an end to Flynn's dramatic criminal case, three years after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia during Trump's presidential transition period in 2016 and pledged cooperation with the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.
Flynn's assistance in the Russia probe led by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller delayed his sentence, as D.C. District Judge Emmet Sullivan allowed him to complete his cooperation, including appearing for congressional testimonies.
Flynn took a combative turn against the government after Mueller concluded the investigation, moving to withdraw the guilty plea in January as his legal team claimed he was entrapped by the FBI agents.
The Department of Justice in May sought to dismiss the Flynn case, arguing that Flynn's lies could not be proved in court and were not material to the FBI investigation in early 2017 concerning the Russian interference. The DOJ's move drew intensifying questions about politicization in the prosecutorial process.
Sullivan refused to immediately grant the DOJ's request to drop the case, instead of setting up a process to examine the department's reasoning.
Flynn, whose less-than-one-month tenure between January and February 2017 was the shortest in U.S. history for a national security adviser, was the second Trump associate convicted in the Russia probe. He was fired by Trump after pleading guilty.
Roger Stone, Trump's longtime confidant and GOP operative, was convicted of lying to Congress and witness tampering but was commuted by the president in July, just days before he was due to report to prison.
