President Trump just absolved his former national security adviser and convicted perjurer Gen. Michael Flynn ... which might be the start of a last-minute blitz of forgiveness.
After rumors swirled this week he'd do this, the Prez announced the pardon Wednesday, tweeting ... "It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon. Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!"
It could be the first of several lame-duck pardons to come out of the Oval during Trump's remaining time in office. As we first reported ... Joe Exotic's people say they've gotten word he could be next.
As for Flynn ... the writing's been on the wall. -- the Prez has time and again said Flynn got a raw deal and was rung up on charges over technicalities rather than anything actually wrong or harmful to the nation. Trump even had Attorney General William Barr go to bat for Flynn in court -- with the DOJ filing to dismiss the charges.
Gen. Flynn signed a plea bargain during Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian collusion by the Trump campaign -- admitting he lied to FBI investigators about conversations he'd had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during Trump's transition to power. He allegedly told him to tell Putin to chill over Obama's lame-duck sanctions against Russia.
Flynn also lied to Vice President Mike Pence about those convos -- and Pence parroted those to the media. As a result, Trump canned him, but openly denounced the move.
There are a few other Trump campaign people POTUS could bail out if he wants -- Paul Manafort comes to mind.
The last person Trump might still have on his list for a clean slate is ... himself, according to multiple reports. Word is he's discussed granting himself a pardon -- but something tells us that'd land right at the Supreme Court, as it's unprecedented.