--- title: Michael Flynn: Immunity Means You Probably Committed a Crime description: Former national security adviser Michael Flynn, currently negotiating for immunity, once said immunity means someone committed a crime. canonical: https://time.com/4720420/michael-flynn-immunity-congress-crime/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-31T13:01:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:08:24.971Z article:section: Politics og:title: Michael Flynn: Immunity Means You Probably Committed a Crime og:description: He's now seeking immunity in order to testify on the Trump campaign and Russia og:url: https://time.com/4720420/michael-flynn-immunity-congress-crime/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1393a54c591bcce2/6988c0bc0b72e34c206ed26c/lieutenant-michael-flynn.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: 170330_Michael Flynn og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Michael Flynn: Immunity Means You Probably Committed a Crime twitter:description: He's now seeking immunity in order to testify on the Trump campaign and Russia twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1393a54c591bcce2/6988c0bc0b72e34c206ed26c/lieutenant-michael-flynn.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Michael Flynn Once Said Immunity 'Means You Probably Committed a Crime' > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 31, 2017 1:01 PM UTC  Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn arrives to a swearing in ceremony of White House senior staff in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017. Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn arrives to a swearing in ceremony of White House senior staff in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017. Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 31, 2017 1:01 PM UTC Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is negotiating with Congress [for immunity](http://time.com/4720004/michael-flynn-congress-testify-russia/) in connection with an investigation into Russia’s influence on the 2016 election, but last year he said being granted immunity meant someone had done something illegal. “When you are given immunity, that means you probably committed a crime,” Flynn, then an aide on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, said on _Meet the Press_ in September 2016, [the Washington _Post_ reports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/31/michael-flynn-in-2016-immunity-means-you-probably-committed-a-crime/?utm%5Fterm=.9c92a5bdcb47). His comments came after reports surfaced that Hillary Clinton had been granted immunity by the government in exchange for talking with the FBI about her email server. The same month, Trump [said](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-flynn-criticized-clinton-aides-seeking-immunity/story?id=46479102) at a Florida rally, “If you are not guilty of a crime, what do you need immunity for?” The following day in Wisconsin, he elaborated, “The reason they get immunity is because they did something wrong. If they didn’t do anything wrong, they don’t think in terms of immunity.” In reality, requesting or being granted immunity from prosecution does not constitute an admission of guilt. Flynn and Trump see things differently now. The retired general is in discussions with the House and Senate intelligence committees to receive immunity in exchange for being questioned in ongoing investigations into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia. Flynn’s attorney says he wants immunity from “unfair prosecution,” and Trump jumped to Flynn’s defense Friday morning, [tweeting](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/847766558520856578) that Flynn should ask for immunity because “this is a witch hunt.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/847766558520856578) Flynn [resigned](http://time.com/4670175/michael-flynn-resign-trump-russia/?iid=sr-link1) as national security adviser in February after reports surfaced that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other government officials about his contacts with Russia. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4720420/michael-flynn-immunity-congress-crime/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4720420/michael-flynn-immunity-congress-crime/"},"headline":"Michael Flynn Once Said Immunity 'Means You Probably Committed a Crime'","datePublished":"2017-03-31T13:01:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:08:24.971Z","description":"He's now seeking immunity in order to testify on the Trump campaign and Russia","url":"https://time.com/4720420/michael-flynn-immunity-congress-crime/","keywords":["Congress","Michael Flynn","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1393a54c591bcce2/6988c0bc0b72e34c206ed26c/lieutenant-michael-flynn.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1393a54c591bcce2/6988c0bc0b72e34c206ed26c/lieutenant-michael-flynn.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"170330_Michael Flynn","caption":"President Trump Attends The White House Senior Staff Swearing In","creditText":"Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4720420/michael-flynn-immunity-congress-crime/","name":"Michael Flynn Once Said Immunity 'Means You Probably Committed a Crime'"}}]}] ```