One of the biggest scalps claimed by Robert Mueller’s special investigation was that of Gen. Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security advisor. After being accused of lying to federal agents, Flynn, under the advisement of his council at the time, agreed to plead guilty to the charge in exchange for a presumably lighter sentence. President Donald Trump, who fired Flynn during his transition into the White House due primarily to the then-broiling Russia-collusion hoax, has repeatedly stated that he believes Flynn was railroaded and has floated pardoning him.

Well, after last Friday’s court filings by Flynn’s lawyers of documents the Justice Department was forced to turned over due to Brady regulations, Trump may not have to pardon Flynn. According to his attorney, Sidney Powell, Flynn was “deliberately set up and framed by corrupt agents at the top of the FBI.” Powell further stated, “It also defeats any argument that the interview of Mr. Flynn on January 24, 2017 was material to any ‘investigation.’ The government has deliberately suppressed this evidence from the inception of this prosecution — knowing there was no crime by Mr. Flynn.”

When Flynn agreed to plead guilty to lying to FBI agents, it was understood that he had done so to avoid a more severe sentence. Yet these DOJ documents paint a much different picture and provide a much more compelling reason. Prosecutors threatened to go after Flynn’s son and charge him for failing to register with the DOJ as a foreign agent if Flynn didn’t plead guilty.

As Andrew McCarthy observes, “Powell now contends that the new disclosures demonstrate that Mueller’s prosecutors — she specifically cites Brandon Van Grack, who now runs Justice’s FARA unit — did indeed promise Flynn that they would not charge his son if Flynn pled guilty. Worse, Powell avers that the prosecutors coerced Flynn and his counsel to keep this agreement secret. That is, this was to be a side deal that would not be written into the plea agreement and therefore would be kept from the court and the public.” McCarthy then notes, “Under federal law, all understandings that are relevant to a guilty plea must be disclosed to the judge. It would be not merely a serious ethical breach for government lawyers to fail to reveal such an arrangement. It would be a fraud on the court.”

So, not only does it appear that Flynn was pressured into issuing his guilty plea via a secret side deal, it also appears that his then-legal counsel, the Washington firm of Covington & Burling, was in cahoots with the prosecution in maintaining the side deal’s secrecy.

Given these latest revelations, it would come as a surprise if the court doesn’t at the very least vacate Flynn’s guilty plea, if not throw out the case entirely. One thing’s for certain: If the court still elects to sentence Flynn, Trump will have more than ample justification for pardoning him.

(Edited.)

Update 4/30: Fox News reports, “Explosive new internal FBI documents unsealed Wednesday show that top bureau officials discussed their motivations for interviewing then-national security adviser Michael Flynn in the White House in January 2017 — and openly questioned if their ‘goal’ was ‘to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired.’”