- Former White House national-security adviser Michael Flynn won't be accepting money from President Donald Trump's legal-defense fund for individuals under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.
- Flynn has been a cooperating witness for Mueller since he pleaded guilty to charges of lying to the FBI in December 2017.
- The defense fund presents an ethical quandary for watchdogs, and some suggest it could potentially taint witness testimony if utilized improperly.
- So far, no details have emerged about who specifically would be able to make use of the fund.
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Michael Flynn says he won't let Trump pay off his legal fees for the Russia investigation
The legal fund was set up to pay the legal fees of any Trump officials involved in court battles over the Russia investigation.
Former White House national-security adviser Michael Flynn says he will not be accepting money from a defense fund President Donald Trump has set up to help former administration and campaign officials pay their legal fees in the Russia investigation, according to an ABC News source.
The defense fund, which is called the
Flynn, who was ousted from the White House in February 2017, pleaded guilty in December to charges of lying to the FBI about his meetings with former Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak in December 2016. Since pleading guilty he has been cooperating with the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller, and remains a key witness in his investigation.
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No information has been given about who would benefit from the fund so far.
An ethical quandary at the heart of the defense-fund idea
Experts and ethics watchdogs disagree about how legal and appropriate it is of Trump to pay off such fees, given that he has a personal stake in the Russia investigation.
“The prosecutor would probably look skeptically at these payments. It could call into question the credibility of the witness and taint the testimony,” Clark said. “Nothing necessarily illegal about the payments, but the fact of the payment could be used to question the credibility of the witness. The prosecutor would not want that testimony tainted.”
Yet the acting director of the Office of Government Ethics, David Apol, said so far, he sees no problems with the draft proposal for the fund.
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