On Tuesday evening, Special Counsel Robert Mueller provided sentencing recommendations for former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. The sentencing documents commend Flynn for his cooperation and recommend that he receive the minimum sentence for his offense of lying to investigators. Which would likely mean probation only, with no time in prison, not even the relatively minimal sentences handed down for offenders like George Papadopoulos. Considering the array of potential charges against Flynn—not only for his actions related to Russia, but for illegal foreign lobbying on behalf of Turkey—that falls under the category of A Very Good Deal.
Attached to the sentencing proposal is a memo detailing just why the government believes that Flynn deserves such good treatment from the court. That memo breaks down Flynn’s assistance into two categories: His help to the special counsel’s office in investigating ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and his assistance in a criminal investigation. Unfortunately, of the six page memo, fully half is blacked out.
On the criminal investigation, it’s not possible from this document to tell what assistance Flynn provided, the nature of the crime being investigated, or even the jurisdiction in which this matter is taking place. It’s clear that this investigation is not something being conducted by the special counsel’s office. It could be connected to Russia. It could be connected to Turkey. It may detail the plot to arrange the rendition of cleric Fethullah Gülen from the United States and turn him over to Turkish president Recep Erdoğan. Flynn was involved in this plot, and even wrote an editorial as part of the effort to send Gülen to almost certain death. But any statement about the criminal investigation that Flynn was assisting is purely speculative, as every word of this section is blacked out.
The next part of the document concerns Flynn’s assistance to Mueller’s investigation. The header on that section says explicitly that Flynn assisted the Special Counsel’s Office “concerning links or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump campaign.” That would be … collusion. Or, in a legal sense, conspiracy against the United States. The document then notes that Flynn assisted, among other things, with connections between Trump’s transition team and Russia.
The remainder of the document is broken into sections under the broader heading of assistance that Flynn provided to the special counsel. The first section concerns the transition team. Specifically, the document mentions Flynn’s own communications with the Russian ambassador and the exchange of information between Trump’s team and Russia on two issues, including that of Russian sanctions. There is something else that Flynn passed along concerning the transition team, but that item is blacked out.
Other than issues related to the transition team, it appears that Flynn assisted the special counsel on two other items, the second on one of which is longer than the section concerning the transition team. But the length of that item is about all that can be mentioned, as again everything, including the topics, for both these items has been blacked out.
The document closes by again praising Flynn for cooperating, and stating the importance of the “timeliness” of his actions. Because he cooperated early, it likely convinced others to tell what they knew, or to negotiate with the special counsel.
Overall, it can be determined that Flynn was interviewed extensively, He spoke with the special counsel, or other investigators, 19 times. Both groups of investigators appear to have found his information useful and the special counsel’s office seems to believe that Flynn spoke truthfully and in full.
If what Flynn told investigators still isn’t clear, this much is: The fact that Mueller continued to feel it necessary to black out much of what Flynn discussed, right down to the topic of discussion, indicates that there are still ongoing investigations, or pending indictments, related to that testimony. It’s difficult to say if Flynn drove a definitive nail through the Trump campaign, but he does seem to have delivered a good deal of information. Enough that the White House cannot be happy with what they can see—even if they can’t see under that black ink.
The documents sent to the court also explicitly say that they are “non-exhaustive.” Mueller wanted to provide the court with plenty of examples of Flynn’s cooperation to justify the light sentencing request, but he didn’t put down everything. Not even in the sections that are blacked out.