Reports: Trump eyes pardon for former aide Michael Flynn

US President Donald Trump has told allies he plans to pardon his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI over his Russian contacts, US media reports said. 

Trump could still change his mind about the planned pardon, which is among a number of pardons under consideration by the president, a source familiar with the situation told Axios.

Read more: US court orders Michael Flynn case dropped 

Flynn's secret talks with the Russian ambassador to Washington in December 2016, before Trump was inaugurated, were a key element in the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Moscow's meddling in the US election that year.

'Witch hunt' and 'good man'

Trump fired Flynn just 22 days into his administration. However, the president has always claimed that the investigation was a political "witch hunt" and that Flynn, a former army general and head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, was a "good man."

Read more: Special counsel Robert Mueller files new details on Trump aides 

The Justice Department withdrew its case against Flynn in May this year, saying the alleged lies to the FBI were not significant and handing Trump a major political win. However, a judge has demanded further judicial review of the matter. A pardon from Trump would take that matter out of the courts.

If Trump does grant the reprieve, it would be the highest-profile pardon issued by the president since he took office.

Trump in March said he was strongly considering a full pardon for Flynn, and that the FBI and Justice Department had "destroyed" Flynn's life and that of his family.

Read more: Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone appeals prison sentence 

lc/sri (AFP, Reuters)