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Out like Flynn: No jail time for Trump adviser who helped Russia probe

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office has said US President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn co-operated with its probe into possible collusion between Trump’s election campaign team and Moscow.

It has asked a federal judge not to sentence Flynn to jail.

Prosecutors said in a court filing that Flynn had provided “substantial assistance” in Mr Mueller’s probe, including giving “firsthand information about the content and context of interactions between the transition team and Russian government officials”.

They also said he provided help on other criminal investigations, although those details were redacted because the probes are ongoing.

But the huge swathes of redacted information in the court filing has prompted much discussion – and internet memes – about what’s yet to come in the Russian investigation.

The documents did show that Flynn was interviewed 19 times during the probe.

Flynn, who held the White House job for only 24 days, pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia.

He will be sentenced in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on December 18.

He is so far the only member of Mr Trump’s administration to plead guilty to a crime uncovered during Mr Mueller’s wide-ranging investigation into Russian attempts to influence the 2016 US election and potential collusion by Trump aides.

Though prosecutors withheld specific details of Flynn’s co-operation because of ongoing investigations, the filing highlights how much information Mr Mueller has obtained from Trump insiders.

This week, Mr Trump lashed out at his former legal fixer, Michael Cohen, accusing him of making up “stories” to get a reduced prison sentence after pleading guilty to lying to Congress.

AP said Mr Trump also praised long-time confidante Roger Stone for saying he would “never testify against Trump”, adding in his tweet: “Nice to know some people still have ‘guts!'”

Mr Flynn’s testimony to avoid jail was immediately jumped on by supporters of losing Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, given the Trump ally’s leading of chants at the Republican convention of “Lock her up” in relation to her use of private email servers for government business.

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