Trump Asks Comey to "Let Flynn Go" in Private Oval Office Meeting

The day after National Security Advisor Michael Flynn resigned for lying about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, President Trump cleared the Oval Office of other officials—including Attorney General Jeff Sessions and senior advisor Jared Kushner—and asked FBI Director James Comey to drop the investigation into Flynn. “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” Trump told Comey. “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.” This private request constituted one of the clearest episodes of obstruction of justice documented in the Mueller Report and set in motion the chain of events that would lead to Trump firing Comey and the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

The Context: Flynn’s Resignation

Michael Flynn had resigned as National Security Advisor just one day earlier, on February 13, 2017, after it became public that he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials about his December 2016 conversations with Russian Ambassador Kislyak regarding sanctions. Acting Attorney General Sally Yates had warned the White House on January 26 that Flynn had lied to the FBI and could be compromised by Russian blackmail.

Despite Flynn’s resignation, the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into Flynn’s Russian contacts remained active. Trump knew this—Comey had briefed him multiple times about the Flynn investigation. Trump also knew that the broader FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election was ongoing and that Flynn’s lies potentially implicated others in the Trump campaign and transition team.

The Oval Office Meeting

On February 14, 2017, Trump met with several senior officials in the Oval Office, including Vice President Pence, Attorney General Sessions, Comey, Kushner, and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. After discussing other matters, Trump asked everyone except Comey to leave the room. Sessions and Kushner initially lingered, but Trump directed them out.

This clearing of the room was highly unusual and concerning. Sessions was Comey’s boss as Attorney General. Kushner was Trump’s senior advisor and son-in-law. The presence of witnesses would have been normal for any legitimate presidential-FBI Director conversation. Their exclusion suggested Trump knew what he was about to say was improper.

Once alone with Comey, Trump brought up Flynn. According to Comey’s contemporaneous memo—written immediately after the meeting—Trump said: “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”

Comey understood this as a direction. While phrased as a “hope,” coming from the President to the FBI Director regarding an active investigation of the President’s close associate, it was an unmistakable request to drop the investigation. Comey did not commit to complying and did not, in fact, drop the investigation.

The Comey Memos

Comey documented this conversation in a detailed memo immediately after the meeting, following his practice of memorializing all interactions with Trump that he found concerning. These memos became critical evidence in the obstruction investigation.

Comey shared the content of the memo with senior FBI leadership the same day. He later testified that he knew immediately that Trump’s request was problematic and potentially criminal. “I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting, and so I thought it really important to document,” Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The memos documented not only the Flynn conversation but also Trump’s previous requests for loyalty, his demands that Comey publicly state Trump was not under investigation, and his repeated efforts to influence the Russia investigation. Together, they painted a picture of sustained presidential pressure on the FBI Director to protect Trump and his associates.

Legal Significance: Obstruction of Justice

The Mueller Report analyzed this episode under the three-element framework for obstruction of justice: an obstructive act, a nexus to an official proceeding, and corrupt intent. Mueller found “substantial evidence” of all three elements.

Obstructive act: Trump’s request that Comey drop the Flynn investigation was an effort to influence or impede the FBI’s investigation. While phrased as a “hope,” the power differential and context made it effectively a directive.

Nexus to an official proceeding: The FBI’s investigation could lead to grand jury proceedings and criminal charges. Flynn’s false statements were already being investigated, and the investigation was ongoing when Trump made his request.

Corrupt intent: The evidence of corrupt intent was substantial. Trump knew Flynn had lied to the FBI about his Russian contacts. Trump made the request one day after Flynn’s forced resignation, when the reasons for Flynn’s lies were becoming public. Trump cleared the room of all witnesses, including his own Attorney General. And Trump’s subsequent conduct—firing Comey when he didn’t drop the investigation—showed Trump’s intent was to protect Flynn and prevent further investigation.

Mueller’s report concluded: “Substantial evidence indicates that the President’s effort to have the Acting Attorney General limit the scope of the Special Counsel’s investigation or to have Sessions take over the investigation would, if successful, have had the potential to prevent further investigative scrutiny of the President’s conduct and communications.”

The Chain Reaction

Comey’s refusal to drop the Flynn investigation set off a sequence of events that ultimately led to Mueller’s appointment:

1. February 14: Trump asks Comey to let Flynn go
2. March-April: Trump repeatedly asks Comey to publicly state Trump is not under investigation
3. May 3: Comey testifies to Senate that he would not pledge loyalty to Trump
4. May 9: Trump fires Comey
5. May 11: Trump tells NBC’s Lester Holt he fired Comey because of “this Russia thing”
6. May 17: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appoints Robert Mueller as Special Counsel

Each step followed logically from Trump’s failed attempt to pressure Comey to drop the Flynn investigation. When subtle pressure didn’t work, Trump escalated to firing Comey. When that backfired, the investigation Trump feared became both broader and more independent under Mueller.

Sessions’ Recusal and Trump’s Fury

Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ forced departure from the February 14 meeting was significant. Sessions had recused himself from the Russia investigation on March 2, 2017, after it was revealed he had lied during his confirmation hearing about his own contacts with Ambassador Kislyak.

Trump viewed Sessions’ recusal as a betrayal and repeatedly berated Sessions for it. Trump believed that if Sessions had maintained oversight of the Russia investigation, he could have protected Trump by limiting or ending it—exactly what Trump was asking Comey to do for Flynn.

The fact that Trump cleared Sessions from the room before asking Comey to drop the Flynn investigation suggests Trump knew Sessions could not and should not be part of such a conversation. Yet Trump was furious that Sessions’ ethical recusal prevented him from providing the protection Trump expected.

Flynn’s Eventual Guilty Plea and Pardon

Flynn pleaded guilty on December 1, 2017, to lying to the FBI about his Kislyak contacts—the very investigation Trump asked Comey to drop. Flynn’s cooperation with Mueller suggested he had significant information about the Trump campaign’s Russian contacts and the transition team’s activities.

In 2020, Attorney General William Barr’s Justice Department moved to dismiss the case against Flynn despite his sworn guilty plea. A federal judge refused to grant the dismissal immediately, questioning the DOJ’s extraordinary intervention. On November 25, 2020, Trump granted Flynn a full pardon.

The pardon vindicated Trump’s February 14, 2017 view that Flynn should be let go—Trump simply achieved through presidential pardon power what he had failed to achieve through pressuring the FBI Director. Flynn never served a day in prison for lying to the FBI, and his pardon ensured he could never be compelled to testify about what he knew regarding Trump’s conduct.

Significance

The February 14, 2017 Oval Office meeting represents one of the clearest and most consequential acts of obstruction of justice by a president in American history. Unlike other obstruction episodes that could be explained as political or defensive reactions, this was a direct, private request to shut down a criminal investigation of the President’s close associate.

The episode demonstrated Trump’s early understanding that the Russia investigation threatened him and his willingness to use presidential power to interfere with law enforcement. It showed Trump’s awareness that his requests were improper—hence clearing the room of witnesses. And it established the pattern that would repeat throughout his presidency: when legal and proper channels didn’t produce the results he wanted, Trump would abandon norms and laws to achieve them.

Most importantly, it revealed the fragility of law enforcement independence in the face of presidential pressure. Comey resisted and was fired. His successors learned the lesson: resist Trump and lose your job, or comply and remain in power. By Trump’s second Attorney General, William Barr, the lesson had been fully absorbed. Barr gave Trump what Comey refused to provide—a Justice Department willing to shut down investigations and protect the President’s associates.

The “let Flynn go” conversation was the moment when Trump’s presidency crossed from political controversy into criminal obstruction. That Congress took no meaningful action to hold Trump accountable for it established the precedent that future presidents need not fear consequences for interfering with investigations of themselves and their associates.