# Michael Flynn asking for Immunity to testify **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 31, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-flynn-asking-for-immunity-to-testify/783413 "2017-03-31T15:03:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-flynn-asking-for-immunity-to-testify/783413/21 "2017-03-31T18:27:53Z")
Trump got immunity once. It clearly left him with autism. ---
**Author:** ![de\_facto\_lies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba8739/32.png) [@de\_facto\_lies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/de_facto_lies)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-flynn-asking-for-immunity-to-testify/783413/22 "2017-03-31T18:36:24Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > If given immunity from the start, Flynn could throw himself on his sword, taking all the blame and saying no one else knew anything. Not likely but possible. That is a very interesting point and I never thought to look at it that way. This could be him taking a sword for the Donald and the campaign or it could be him swinging back at the campaign for not backing him as stoutly as they backed Manafourt and Sessions? However I see no reason he could be granted immunity unless the dems are so out for blood they are willing to give him up to get someone still connected directly to Trump and his campaign? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-flynn-asking-for-immunity-to-testify/783413/23 "2017-03-31T20:05:08Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Trump got immunity once. It clearly left him with autism. Speaking as the parent of an autistic child, autism is clearly NOT what Trump has. Senility perhaps. Narcissism definitely. Sociopathy, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-flynn-asking-for-immunity-to-testify/783413/24 "2017-03-31T20:06:36Z")
> [@de\_facto\_lies](#): > > That is a very interesting point and I never thought to look at it that way. **This could be him taking a sword for the Donald and the campaign or it could be him swinging back at the campaign for not backing him as stoutly as they backed Manafourt and Sessions?** > > However I see no reason he could be granted immunity unless the dems are so out for blood they are willing to give him up to get someone still connected directly to Trump and his campaign? Is he Oliver North or John Dean? Will he take the blame or bring down the house? He strikes me as a bring down the house kinda guy. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-flynn-asking-for-immunity-to-testify/783413/25 "2017-03-31T20:15:57Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Is he Oliver North or John Dean? Will he take the blame or bring down the house? He strikes me as a bring down the house kinda guy. Let’s not forget that Ollie North got Congressional immunity that was later the basis used to overturn his criminal convictions. His testimony before Congress could not be used against him but it was judged to have tainted his ability to get a fair trial. I hope Flynn doesn’t do the same. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-flynn-asking-for-immunity-to-testify/783413/26 "2017-03-31T20:27:58Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Speaking as the parent of an autistic child, autism is clearly NOT what Trump has. Senility perhaps. Narcissism definitely. Sociopathy, maybe. I realized belatedly the remark was ill-considered and I withdraw it. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-flynn-asking-for-immunity-to-testify/783413/27 "2017-05-22T15:20:23Z")
> [@](#): > > President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn won’t provide records to the Senate intelligence committee and will invoke his Fifth Amendment rights in response to a subpoena from the committee, according to a source close to Flynn. > > Flynn’s refusal to cooperate comes as he faces scrutiny in several inquiries, including on Capitol Hill and a federal grand jury that has issued subpoenas to associates of the ex-national security adviser. > **[Senate Intel leaders: Open to holding Flynn in contempt | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/22/politics/michael-flynn-pleads-fifth/)** > > The top two leaders of the Senate intelligence committee are leaving the door open to holding Michael Flynn in contempt of Congress after President Trump’s former national security adviser said he would invoke his Fifth Amendment rights rather than... When people take the fifth, the general public assumes this means they are guilty. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-flynn-asking-for-immunity-to-testify/783413/28 "2017-05-22T15:40:38Z")
All due respect, but my faith in the rationality of the general public dwindled considerably after the general public elected Donald Trump to be the President of the United States of America. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-flynn-asking-for-immunity-to-testify/783413/29 "2017-05-22T21:25:29Z")
And so does Trump: > [@](#): > > Then-candidate Trump suggested that the aide’s taking the Fifth implied guilt and he drew comparisons to the mafia. > > “The mob takes the Fifth Amendment," Trump said at a rally in Iowa in September 2016. "If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” Of course, Mr Trump in saying that appears to have forgotten this little tidbit: > [@](#): > > Trump himself pleaded the Fifth Amendment 97 times in 1990 during his divorce proceeding from former beauty queen Marla Maples, according to [report](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-pleading-the-fifth_us_57ed79dee4b024a52d2de46d?section=politics) in The Huffington Post. [Flynn last year highlighted a Clinton aide’s pleading the 5th Amendment](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/flynn-year-highlighted-clinton-aides-pleading-5th-amendment/story?id=47561117) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-flynn-asking-for-immunity-to-testify/783413/30 "2017-05-23T04:43:48Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > When people take the fifth, the general public assumes this means they are guilty. Yes but what matters is what the judge/jury decide. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-flynn-asking-for-immunity-to-testify/783413/31 "2017-05-23T15:53:37Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Yes but what matters is what the judge/jury decide. It depends whether we are asking about possible legal repercussions, or political ones. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-flynn-asking-for-immunity-to-testify/783413/32 "2017-05-23T16:08:41Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > It depends whether we are asking about possible legal repercussions, or political ones. Good point but I think Flynn is well past worrying about his political future which is pretty much dead no matter what happens at this point. He is in stay-out-of-jail mode now. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-flynn-asking-for-immunity-to-testify/783413/33 "2017-05-23T18:19:43Z")
FWIW I agree with Trump - people who are granted immunity have committed a crime, probably. Otherwise they wouldn’t need immunity. Legally, one can’t assume that, but for practical purposes, it’s likely. This is, however, a political matter, not a legal one - if Flynn gets immunity and then gives the Democrats something they can use against Trump, I have no doubt they will jump at the chance. Whether the GOP will go along with it is another question. Maybe it’s more devious than I thought - Flynn asks for immunity knowing the GOP won’t give it to him, then he pleads the Fifth and doesn’t say anything. Then the Dems have gotten all they can with pointing out that Trump said immunity was for the Mob and they go on to something else. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-flynn-asking-for-immunity-to-testify/783413.md?page=1)