Judge rebukes Flynn, delays sentencing

WASHINGTON—A federal judge on Tuesday agreed to delay the sentencing of former national security adviser Michael Flynn to allow him to cooperate further with the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Flynn pleaded guilty a year ago to making false statements to the FBI about his dealings with then–Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak before President Donald Trump took office. Two weeks ago, special counsel Robert Mueller recommended that Flynn receive little to no prison time, citing his extensive help with the Russia probe.

At a sentencing hearing Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan told Flynn he couldn’t hide his disgust at his crime of lying to the FBI. “Arguably you sold your country out,” Sullivan said. But the judge agreed to wait to sentence Flynn until the Russia investigation was farther along and set a status conference for his case in March.

On Monday, federal prosecutors indicted two of Flynn’s former business associates, Bijan Kian and Ekim Alptekin, for unregistered foreign lobbying. Prosecutors said the men conspired with Turkey in 2016 to try to get the United States to extradite a Turkish cleric and political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The president wished Flynn “Good luck” in court Tuesday, adding that it “will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion.”