President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner directed former national security adviser Michael Flynn to lobby foreign officials ahead of a December 2016 United Nations (U.N.) vote that condemned Israeli settlements, according to The Wall Street Journal.
When Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in December, court documents stated that “a very senior member of the Presidential Transition Team” had “directed Flynn” during the transition period to “influence those governments to delay the vote or defeat the resolution.” That “very senior member” was Kushner, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The lobbying efforts failed, and in December of 2016 the U.N. voted to condemn a new wave of Israeli settlements as a “flagrant violation” of international law with “no legal validity.”
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Flynn pleaded guilty in December to lying to FBI investigators over his contact with the foreign officials over the U.N. vote during the transition, and entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors from Robert Mueller’s special counsel office.
The special counsel investigation has the authority to investigate “any and all matters” that arise from its initial investigation of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the election.
Flynn became the fourth person ensnared by Mueller’s investigation, following the indictment of former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort and one of his business associates, Richard Gates, the month before. Former campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos also pleaded guilty.
In his guilty plea, Flynn pledged to cooperate fully with the special counsel investigation going forward. Last month, it was reported that Trump directed Flynn during the transition to make contacts with Russian officials on topics intended to repair relations between the U.S. and Russia, including the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror group.
“Trump assigned Flynn and a small circle of other senior advisers to find ways to repair relations with Russia and other hot spots. It was shortly after the election, that President-elect Trump directed Flynn to contact Russian officials on topics that included working jointly against ISIS,” ABC News reported, according to a Flynn confidant.
Trump tweeted in December that he fired Flynn after learning that the former aide had lied to Vice President Pence and the FBI.
“I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!” Trump tweeted.