Why Flynn's guilty plea won't bring down Trump

As long as he is willing it facilitate the GOP agenda, he's nearly untouchable

President Trump.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

During the Republican National Convention last July, former Lt. General Michael Flynn, who would go on to become President Trump's national security adviser after the election, delivered a blistering speech denouncing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. "If I did a 10th of what [Clinton] did, I would be in jail today," he thundered, leading the crowd in a chant of "lock her up." Apparently, this was projection.

On Friday, Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI about his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak before Trump's inauguration. But that was only the beginning of the story. On Saturday, Trump decided to throw gasoline on the fire by appearing to admit obstructing justice. And yet, despite all this, it's unlikely that the Flynn revelations will do any lasting damage to the Trump administration. Congress needs Trump to help pass its agenda, starting with its massive tax bill that passed the Senate early Saturday morning.

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Scott Lemieux

Scott Lemieux is a professor of political science at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y., with a focus on the Supreme Court and constitutional law. He is a frequent contributor to the American Prospect and blogs for Lawyers, Guns and Money.