WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Justice dropping criminal charges against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who pled guilty in 2017 to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“Almost exactly three years ago, I expressed alarm that the president of the United States would have asked the director of the FBI to drop the case against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Flynn admitted twice to lying to the FBI about his working relationship with the Russians and, according to President Trump’s own tweets, was fired for lying to the Vice President and President. It is incomprehensible that Attorney General Barr does not understand how damaging it is to the credibility of the Department of Justice and to the rule of law in this country that he has dropped criminal charges against Flynn. His actions make it much more difficult for the United States to encourage other countries to follow legitimate criminal proceedings rather than cronyism.

“Donald Trump is more concerned about finding a way to get his friends off the hook for criminal wrongdoing than following his oath to uphold the Constitution and take care the laws are faithfully executed. The Justice Department Inspector General should immediately launch an investigation into improper interference in this investigation by the White House and Justice Department leaders, and Congress should conduct vigorous oversight of the Administration’s misconduct.” 

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