The Justice Department was not consulted about the Flynn pardon in the way it often takes part in the preparation of presidential pardons, a department official said on Wednesday. The official described the situation on the condition that the person not be identified.
The Justice Department did get a "heads-up" on Wednesday, the official said, and the person said that "this is obviously an appropriate use of the president's pardon power."
Justice Department leaders would have preferred, however, for Flynn's case to have been resolved in court, where federal Judge Emmet Sullivan still had not ruled on the government's request to abandon its prosecution.
Justice Department leaders were "confident in the likelihood of our success in the case," the official said Wednesday.