Judge asks whether Flynn should testify

WASHINGTON — A judge is asking whether Michael Flynn should be compelled to testify before the court considers whether the former three-star Army general can withdraw from his plea agreement with the special counsel that investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election.

President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser admitted more than two years ago that he lied about his conversations with Russia’s ambassador and misrepresented his work for the Turkish government. He affirmed his guilt a year later under oath, after U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan questioned whether he truly accepted culpability. But new defense attorneys have suggested that Flynn was a victim of unscrupulous prosecutors who violated his plea agreement.

In an order late Friday, Sullivan asked whether he needed to hold a hearing on Flynn’s claims and whether there is “good cause to set aside his guilty pleas.” He asked both sides whether that hearing should include “testimony from Mr. Flynn and other witnesses under oath, subject to cross-examination.”

Flynn’s sentencing date is set for Feb. 27.

Prosecutors are asking for Flynn, 61, to be sentenced to up to six months in prison.

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