Noah Feldman, Columnist

How the Flynn Charges Box In Trump

Keeping the focus on advisers' Russia contacts helps Mueller keep his job.

December 1, 2017 at 4:21 PM UTC

Updated on

December 1, 2017 at 6:01 PM UTC

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A professor of law at Harvard University, he is author, most recently, of “To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People."

Peace out, Michael Flynn.
Photographer: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

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The news that Michael Flynn pleaded guilty Friday to Russia-related offenses is striking, for several reasons. The lies he told the FBI were about asking the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, for political favors during the presidential transition, some of which the ambassador granted. The lies happened when Flynn was already national security adviser and Donald Trump was president. The fact that Flynn lied about contacts with Russia seems particularly suspicious. And if Flynn testifies, as ABC News has reported, that Trump directed the contacts, the lying looks more suspicious still.

The content of the Flynn-Kislyak conversations deepens the narrative that special counsel Robert Mueller has been building: Earlier guilty pleas revealed Russian efforts to connect with the Trump campaign; this one reveals official contacts between the Trump team and Russia after the election -- contact significant enough for Flynn to lie to the FBI about.