President Donald Trump’s former national security advisor Mike Flynn made a statement today, after his guilty plea for lying to the FBI over phone calls with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. His decision to plead guilty, he says, was made “in the best interests of my family and of our country.”
He will testify that Trump ordered him to make contact with the Russians, ABC reports. (Update, Dec 3: ABC initially reported that Trump had made this order during the campaign. It has now corrected that report to reflect that he did so after he was elected.)
Read his full statement below:
“After over 33 years of military service to our country, including nearly five years in combat away from my family, and then my decision to continue to serve the United States, it has been extraordinarily painful to endure these many months of false accusations of ‘treason’ and other outrageous acts. Such false accusations are contrary to everything I have ever done and stood for. But I recognize that the actions I acknowledged in court today were wrong, and, through my faith in God, I am working to set things right. My guilty plea and agreement to cooperate with the Special Counsel’s Office reflects a decision I made in the best interests of my family and of our country. I accept full responsibility for my actions.”