Via National Review:
In December 2016, Michael Flynn was three weeks from becoming the national-security adviser to the next president of the United States. This is a pertinent fact in evaluating the conduct underlying his plea deal with Robert Mueller. Flynn admitted to lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russia and other foreign governments during the transition.
He’s paying a steep price for his dishonesty, but from what we know so far, it’s not clear what’s supposed to be the larger scandal. In these conversations, Flynn didn’t “collude” with the Russians about hacked emails. He informed them of Donald Trump’s posture on a policy question.
Flynn went beyond the anodyne foreign contacts typical of a transition. This may be inappropriate, but it isn’t a scandal or — as the more outlandish anti-Trumpists argue — a violation of federal law.