Case dropped against Trump aide Flynn

WASHINGTON－The US Justice Department withdrew its case against former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn on Thursday, handing President Donald Trump a major victory.

In a nearly unheard-of reversal, the department said in a filing that Flynn's December 2017 guilty plea for lying to the FBI in an interview over his Russia contacts was moot because the lies were insignificant.

It also said the FBI's original probe of him－part of the sweeping counterintelligence investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election－had no "legitimate investigative basis."

The decision by Attorney-General Bill Barr effectively reversed 18 months of work by the department and FBI under Barr's predecessors.

It also added fuel to Trump's allegation over the past three-plus years that the Russia investigation was a political "witch hunt".

"He was targeted by the (former US president Barack) Obama administration and he was targeted in order to try and take down a president, and what they've done is a disgrace," Trump said on Thursday.

He took aim at the FBI and Justice Department officials behind the original investigation.

The criminal charges led to Flynn's ouster by Trump in February 2017 and became part of the US investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller into Moscow's alleged meddling to help Trump win the presidency in 2016. Moscow has denied any involvement.

The move came as Flynn was fighting possible imprisonment.

Shortly before the filing was submitted, Brandon Van Grack, a Mueller team member and veteran prosecutor on the case, withdrew from the prosecution, a possible sign of disagreement with the decision.

Current and former officials associated with the probe voiced outrage and accused Barr of doing Trump's bidding.

"The evidence against Flynn is overwhelming. He pleaded guilty to lying to investigators," said Jerry Nadler, the Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

"And now a politicized and thoroughly corrupt Department of Justice is going to let the president's crony simply walk away."

Agencies - Xinhua