Washington, Sep 20 (IANS) US President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn will be sentenced on December 18, one year after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, according to court filing.
The move by US District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan came on Wednesday, a day after Mueller’s team signalled that it was ready for Flynn to be sentenced after previously asking for delays, prompting speculation that the former top aide was still cooperating with the probe, Politico reported.
The date falls several weeks after the November 6 mid-term elections.
Flynn has been cooperating with the Mueller probe after pleading guilty on December 1, 2017 to a charge of making two false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about his interactions with then Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak after the 2016 US presidential elections and before Trump’s inauguration in January 2017.
The retired lieutenant general is the first senior White House official to be charged in Mueller’s probe.
Trump has denied knowing anything about contact between the Russians and his campaign and called Mueller’s probe a “witch hunt”. Russia, too, has denied allegations that it interfered in the campaign.