Trump announced today in a Tweet his pardon of former General Michael Flynn. Flynn plead guilty to charges of lying to the FBI. The charges stemmed from the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections by Vlad Putin‘s government (CNN).

Flynn’s was the shortest time ever as National Security Advisor; from January 22nd to February 13th of 2017. He had misled the government on the nature of his communications with a Russian official. After his time in the military he formed the Flynn Intel Group. He had to register as a foreign agent due to work they had done for Turkey. His company was investigating a Muslim cleric residing in the United States wanted by Erdogan’s government.

Flynn plead guilty to the charges of lying to the FBI in a plea deal. It’s not known what charges he would have faced if he didn’t accept the bargain. Attorney General William Barr moved to have the case dismissed after the deal. This is an unusual move for an Attorney General. Those decisions are the realm of judges not attorneys. The whole thing wound up in appellate courts and has caused some furor. The presidential pardon will bring this to an end.

The president’s other advisor who got a pardon was Rodger Stone. He was convicted of lying to congress, witness tampering and obstruction. The charges also stemmed from the investigation into Russian tampering during the 2016 election. He was convicted in February and pardoned before his three year prison sentence was to begin in July (Yahoo News).