You're conflating different issues. TURKEY was the reason Flynn agreed to co-operate with Mueller. His cooperation meant Turkey would go away and he would be ALLOWED to plead to the lessor charge- lying to FBI. Turkey also involved his SON. Have you never heard folks on the Right claim that Flynn plead to protect his son. THIS is what they mean...
Do you understand plea bargaining/ copping a plea? You plead to a LESSOR charge to avoid a more serious sentence. Flynn PLEAD to "lying to the FBI" to avoid being CHARGED regarding Turkey. Flynn's hearing in front of Sullivan to plead was Dec 2018. What else happened in Dec 2018? Flynn's two "BUSINESS PARTNERS" were charged over Turkey... The two events were literally days apart- they're even jointly discussed right here in this link...
"Two former business associates of Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, have been indicted for conspiring to influence both U.S. politicians and public opinion concerning a political rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016.
Prosecutors charged Bijan Rafiekian, also known as Bijan Kian, and Kamil Ekim Alptekin with acting as unregistered agents of the Turkish government in a plot centered around Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania. U.S. Department of Justice attorneys allege the two business associates “sought to discredit and delegitimize the Turkish citizen in the eyes of politicians and the public, and ultimately to secure the Turkish citizen’s extradition.”
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bus...arged-plot-centered-turkish/story?id=59865091
Flynn (and his son) were paid $15 Million by Turkey, to assist his "Business partners". THAT is why Flynn was allowed to plead to the "lying" charge, in exchange for testifying against the two Business partners"- thus keeping his son out of the mix.
Now fast forward to 2019. Flynn changes lawyers and suddenly it's as if the "worst" accusation against him is the "lying" charge. He suddenly seeks to withdraw his plea and stop co-operating. It's in the previous link I gave you from Summer 2019. Mueller had allowed Flynn to plead in exchange for turning informer on Turkey. Flynn tried to opt-out of the plea, so Turkey was back on the table. It's all right here...
"U.S. prosecutors have canceled plans to call President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn as a witness in a Virginia trial involving Flynn's former business partner —
an abrupt change that raises questions about Flynn's co-operation with the government and its impact on his sentencing.
In court filings unsealed on Tuesday, federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Va., said they now plan to portray Flynn as a "co-conspirator" along with Bijan Rafiekian in a scheme to convince U.S. politicians to support Turkey's bid to extradite cleric Fethullah Gulen, a political dissident who lives in the United States.
Flynn's co-operation in Rafiekian's trial, which starts this month, could have an impact on how he is sentenced in his own case in a federal court in Washington, D.C."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/court-documents-flynn-turkey-1.5205387
Barr and the Trump sycophants are purposely trying to make the entire case about "lying to the FBI". It wasn't, and Judge Sullivan didn't see it that way either. The "lying plea" was to AVOID the Turkey mess- lying was always the LESSOR OFFENSE. Flynn and his son were both paid by Turkey- that is established fact. They were both guilty of BRIBERY- none of that had anything to do with Comey, Strzok, or whatever Boogeyman the Right wants to throw out there. Mueller was essentially throwing Flynn a bone by letting him plead in exchange for his cooperation against his CO-CONSPIRATORS.
This is the sort of damaging info Mueller had on Flynn/Turkey...
"A foreign client paying retired Gen. Michael Flynn more than $500,000 to mount a campaign to advance Turkish government interests during the 2016 presidential campaign explicitly complained to a Flynn aide that then-candidate Donald Trump was not being supportive enough, newly released
documents show.
A set of talking points prepared in October 2016 by Mike Boston, a former U.S. intelligence officer working with Flynn, indicate that “the client” backing the lobbying project complained that the GOP nominee had not gone to bat for Turkey. At the time, Flynn was also serving as a top foreign policy adviser to Trump.
“Republican Presidential candidate has not defended subject’s home country publicly. He should specifically ask questions about subject’s operations and funding,” Boston wrote under the heading “CLIENT FEEDBACK.”
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/31/michael-flynn-turkey-lobbying-1349054