The White House is reportedly preparing to attack Flynn's credibility

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published 28 December 2017

President Trump's legal team is gearing up to paint former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn as a liar who will say anything to get himself out of trouble, three people with knowledge of the strategy told The Washington Post Wednesday.

Flynn is cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and earlier this month, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. While Trump's attorneys have said privately they don't think Flynn has evidence that could harm Trump or White House officials, they are preparing themselves for anything he might say against the president.

It's not surprising that this is their strategy, legal experts said. "They will pull out all the arguments: 'You pleaded guilty. You don't have anything more than your word, and you probably got your son off with this. You got the deal of the century,'" defense attorney Barbara Van Gelder lawyer told the Post. Because Flynn's plea agreement was so lenient, most presume he has given Mueller major information. "That is what I thought was the brilliance of the Flynn plea," Van Gelder said. "It said, 'I'm giving just enough to have the judge sentence you within the guidelines, but not giving anything to anybody else.'"

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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