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The Department of Justice (DOJ) reached a settlement Wednesday with Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor to President Donald Trump, over a legal battle tied to his contacts with a Russian diplomat during the Mueller probe.
Official court papers seen by Fox News Digital do not disclose the financial terms of the settlement, but the government is said to be paying Flynn approximately $1.2 million to resolve the matter, The Associated Press reported.
The agreement concludes a lengthy legal saga stemming from the Russia investigation.
Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 2017, to giving false statements to the FBI about his communications with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.
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The Justice Department reached a settlement Wednesday with Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor to President Donald Trump. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo, File)
Those discussions included Russia’s response to U.S. sanctions and a United Nations Security Council resolution regarding Israel.
The charge stemmed from Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference and possible links between Trump campaign officials and Russian figures.
Mueller, a former FBI director who led the bureau from 2001 to 2013, later served as special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, a probe that shadowed much of Trump’s presidency.
He brought charges against multiple Trump associates, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Flynn.
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President Donald Trump gestures as he boards Air Force One before departing Palm Beach International Airport, March 1, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
His final report detailed extensive contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia, but did not establish a criminal conspiracy. Flynn later sought to withdraw his guilty plea and accused federal prosecutors of acting in bad faith.
By 2019, he claimed innocence, citing alleged FBI misconduct.
Although Flynn was pardoned by Trump in late 2020, he filed a lawsuit in 2023 seeking at least $50 million in damages, alleging wrongful and malicious prosecution.
He argued the case, brought by what he described as a “virulently anti-Trump leadership” within the FBI, cost him tens of millions of dollars in business opportunities and future earning potential.
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Robert Mueller, then FBI director, speaks during a news conference in 2008. (Alex Wong/Getty Images, File)
Under the previous administration, the DOJ moved to dismiss Flynn’s complaint. Now, under Attorney General Pam Bondi, a critic of the Russia probe, the department changed course.
In a statement, the DOJ called the settlement an “important step in redressing” what it described as a “historic injustice,” The Associated Press reported.
A spokesperson said the department will pursue accountability to ensure such “weaponization of the federal government” does not recur.
According to a notice of settlement filed in the Middle District of Florida, the case will be dismissed with prejudice once Flynn confirms receipt of the funds, preventing the claims from being refiled.
The filing states each party will bear its own legal costs and that the court will not retain jurisdiction over the agreement.
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In a statement Wednesday, Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said: “The Department of Justice’s reported decision to pay out more than $1 million of taxpayers’ dollars to Michael Flynn is as outrageous as it is indefensible.”
Warner also described the settlement as one that “sends exactly the wrong message to our adversaries, to our intelligence professionals, and to the American people.
“It undermines the rule of law, demeans the work of the men and women who safeguard our national security, and suggests that accountability depends on who you are and who you know, not what you’ve done.”
The DOJ did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
