Former Donald Trump adviser Michael Flynn met with the House committee investigating Jan. 6 insurrection

Warrington argued that in Thursday’s deposition, “committee employees insinuated that General Flynn’s determination to say no to reply their questions constituted an request for forgiveness.”

“According to the Supreme Court, ‘no implication of guilt could possibly be drawn from [one’s] invocation of his Fifth Amendment privilege,’ ” Warrington famous, accusing the committee of holding views on the modification which might be “in battle with practically 250 years of American jurisprudence.”

Flynn has perpetuated Trump’s baseless claims that widespread voting fraud price him the election, false complaints embraced by the mob that stormed the Capitol to cease the affirmation of Joe Biden’s electoral school win. The assault resulted in 5 lifeless and accidents to 140 members of legislation enforcement.

Warrington stated the committee’s “insistence on continuing with this deposition whereas this matter remains to be being litigated left General Flynn with no different alternative” and referred to as it “political theater.”

“Most of the questions lacked any relation to the legislative goal contained in House Resolution 503, and plenty of have been clearly sourced from fringe information and conspiracy web sites and rumors. No American ought to should endure such harassment by the legislative department of our authorities,” Warrington stated.

Flynn, a retired lieutenant common who served as an adviser to the former president for the first 22 days of his administration, was subpoenaed by the committee final yr alongside with 5 different high Trump advisers. According to the committee, all reportedly participated in discussions about difficult the election outcomes.

In its letter to Flynn, the committee requested particularly about his attendance at the Dec. 18 assembly in the Oval Office “throughout which contributors mentioned seizing voting machines, declaring a nationwide emergency, invoking sure nationwide safety emergency powers and persevering with to unfold the message” that the 2020 election was tainted by fraud.

The letter famous that the earlier day, Flynn had spoken with a Newsmax TV interviewer about seizing voting machines, international affect in the election, and the purported precedent for deploying army troops and declaring martial legislation to “rerun” the election. It requested Flynn for all paperwork and depositions associated to those issues.

On March 1, the White House Counsel’s Office informed Flynn and former Trump commerce adviser Peter Navarro that President Biden wouldn’t again claims of government privilege to defend them from testifying earlier than the choose committee.

In response to the White House counsel, Warrington stated his shopper had not asserted government privilege in connection with the choose committee’s subpoena. In addition, Warrington stated his shopper had by no means refused to look earlier than the panel.

Flynn sued the House particular committee final December in an try to dam the subpoena, however a choose denied Flynn’s movement for a brief restraining order.

This wouldn’t be the first time Flynn pleaded the Fifth in connection to an investigation into the former president. In 2017, the former nationwide safety adviser invoked his proper as an alternative of complying with a Senate Intelligence Committee subpoena. At the time, the committee was investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Trump has bashed the Fifth Amendment publicly a number of occasions, saying solely “the mob takes the Fifth” in 2016. Back then, he was referencing former aides to Hillary Clinton, who pleaded the proper throughout inquiries into the former secretary of state’s use of a non-public e-mail server.

“If you’re harmless, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” Trump stated throughout the 2016 marketing campaign, as he attacked Clinton and her employees.

Jacqueline Alemany and Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.