The DOJ Just Settled a Case It Already Won.

TL;DR

The DOJ paid Trump ally Michael Flynn $1.25 million to settle a lawsuit it had already won, continuing a pattern of using taxpayer money to reward political allies.

Key Points

• 1.Flynn's career collapsed after a pattern of foreign entanglements. He took $530,000 from a Turkish government cutout for unregistered lobbying, $45,000 from Russian state TV RT to dine with Putin, and discussed a $15 million kidnapping plot to abduct a legal US resident.
• 2.Flynn's FBI interview became the central crime. On January 24, 2017, Flynn waived his right to a lawyer and lied to FBI agents about his calls with Russian Ambassador Kislyak promising sanctions relief — a violation of 18 USC Section 1001.
• 3.Flynn pleaded guilty twice under oath. In November 2017 and again in December 2018, Flynn admitted in open court to lying to the FBI; Judge Emmet Sullivan even refused to accept the plea initially because it was too lenient given the scope of Flynn's misconduct.
• 4.Flynn's $50 million FATSA lawsuit was legally defective on multiple grounds. It was filed late (March 3, 2023, versus the February 24 deadline), special counsel prosecutors don't qualify as 'law enforcement officers' under the law enforcement proviso, and a presidential pardon does not constitute a 'favorable termination' for malicious prosecution claims.
• 5.Judge Mary Scriven dismissed Flynn's case in December 2024, yet the DOJ still settled for $1.25 million. The Trump DOJ — run by Trump's personal lawyers — agreed to pay taxpayer money after Flynn refiled a third complaint in 2025 that would almost certainly have been dismissed too.
• 6.The Flynn payout is part of a broader political grift. The DOJ also settled for ~$5 million with Ashli Babbitt's family; Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio filed a $100 million suit; and Trump himself filed two FATSA claims totaling $230 million against his own Justice Department.
• 7.Trump's personal lawyers controlling the DOJ creates a direct conflict of interest. The same officials who would approve settlements on the government's side are Trump's own attorneys, and Trump's $230 million FATSA claims use the identical legal vehicle as Flynn's settled case.