The sentencing of Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn has been delayed during a live-wire court hearing filled with stunning reversals in which the judge accused him of having “sold your country out”. 
 
 Flynn had faced sentencing on Tuesday for the crime of lying to federal investigators about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition period. 
 
 But Flynn made the request after US district judge Emmet Sullivan noted that it would be “rare” for him to be sentenced before his cooperation with prosecutors is complete. A member of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team told the judge it was possible that Flynn, who has sat for 19 interviews with Mueller’s team, might not be done cooperating. 
 
 The request to delay followed a stern rebuke of Flynn by Sullivan and a warning from the judge that Flynn could go to prison. 
 
 In a lacerating lecture before the delay was granted, Sullivan told the retired three-star general: “Arguably, you sold your country out.” 
 
 He said: “I’m not hiding my disgust, my disdain, for this criminal offense.” 
 
 Flynn left the court in Washington without making a statement. Demonstrators outside the courthouse chanted “USA! USA!”, apparently in protest of Flynn, as he got into his vehicle. 
 
 Sullivan agreed to delay the sentencing, with a status hearing scheduled for 13 March. 
 
 Trump wished Flynn “good luck” just hours before the sentencing, which under federal guidelines could have landed Flynn in prison for up to six months. 
 
 Arguably, this undermines everything this flag over here stands for. Arguably, you sold your country out Judge Sullivan 
 
 “Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn,” Trump tweeted. “Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!” 
 
 But the hearing quickly took what seemed like a disastrous turn for Flynn – and by extension the president – as Sullivan, who was first appointed to the bench by Ronald Reagan in 1984, issued a stern condemnation of Flynn’s conduct. 
 
 “I am going to be frank with you,” Sullivan said. “This is a very serious offense. A high-ranking senior official of the government making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation while on the physical premises of the White House.” 
 
 “You were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the national security adviser to the president,” Sullivan continued, referring to secret payments Flynn had taken from an agent for the government of Turkey. “Arguably, this undermines everything this flag over here stands for. Arguably, you sold your country out.” 
 
 Play Video 1:56 ‘Do your job Sarah!’: Reporters pursue press secretary over Michael Flynn – video 
 
 After a recess in the hearing, Sullivan backtracked on his characterization of Flynn as a foreign agent, noting that Flynn appeared to have ended his work for Turkey in November 2016 – when he was still a Trump adviser, but before his brief White House tenure. “I felt terrible about that,” Sullivan said. 
 
 In a second sally he later retracted, Sullivan asked Brandon Van Grack, a prosecutor with Mueller’s team, whether a treason charge against Flynn had been weighed. “That was not something we were considering,” Van Grack said. 
 
 After the recess, Sullivan said he was posing the question out of curiosity. “I’m not suggesting he committed treason,” Sullivan said. The constitution narrowly defines treason as making war on the United States or giving aid and comfort to an enemy in war. 
 
 Trump-Russia inquiry: who has Mueller charged and who might be next? Read more 
 
 Flynn would have been the first former White House aide to be sentenced in the Russia investigation. The former Trump aide Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison last week, while former aide Paul Manafort awaits sentencing on felony fraud and money laundering charges. 
 
 As the hearing opened, Judge Sullivan seized on a dubious argument Flynn’s legal team had made in a sentencing memo. While Flynn accepted guilt, the memo said, he had not been advised before an FBI interview that lying to the agents was illegal. 
 
 Sullivan expressed concern that Flynn had not accepted his guilt after all, asking Flynn’s lawyer, Rob Kelner, whether he believed Flynn was entrapped by the FBI. “No, your honor,” said Kelner. 
 
 Asked whether he was aware that lying to the FBI was illegal, Flynn replied: “I was aware.” 
 
 As part of his plea deal, Flynn admitted he had lied to FBI agents about discussing US sanctions on Russia with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador at the time, during the presidential transition. Flynn also denied conversations he had with Kislyak about a UN security council resolution condemning Israel. 
 
 Flynn further admitted to failing to file as a foreign agent for the government of Turkey and making misleading statements when he did file. A company headed by Flynn took in $530,000 in payments from a businessman connected with the Turkish government in exchange for Flynn’s failed efforts to get the US government to extradite the cleric Fethullah Gülen, prosecutors demonstrated. 
 
 Flynn’s business partner at the time, Bijan Kian, was indicted on Monday for failure to register as a foreign agent of Turkey. He entered a not guilty plea. 
 
 Flynn, 60, is a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency and a retired lieutenant general in the US army. He served briefly in the Barack Obama administration but was sidelined in part for his increasingly controversial views on Islam. 
 
 Flynn joined the Trump campaign in February 2016 as an adviser on national security issues. He was on Turkey’s payroll when Trump made him national security adviser in November 2016. 
 
 At the Republican national convention in July 2016, Flynn became the first major Trump campaign figure to join the Republican crowd in a “lock her up” chant directed at the Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton. 
 
 “We do not need a reckless president who believes SHE is above the law,” Flynn said, at which the “lock her up” chant began. 
 
 “Lock her up. That’s right,” Flynn said. “Yeah that’s right, lock her up.” ||||| FILE - In this July 10, 2018, file photo, former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn leaves the federal courthouse in Washington, following a status hearing. Michael Flynn may have given extraordinary... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and the Russia investigation (all times local): 
 
 1:05 p.m. 
 
 A federal judge has agreed to delay former national security adviser Michael Flynn's sentencing so he can continue cooperating with the Russia probe. 
 
 U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan on Tuesday set a status conference for March. 
 
 Attorneys for Flynn asked the judge to postpone the sentencing. The stunning request came after Sullivan warned Flynn that if he were sentenced as scheduled Tuesday, he might not get all the credit for his cooperation with investigators that he is entitled to. 
 
 Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russia contacts. Prosecutors had recommended no prison time, citing his cooperation. But the judge's rebuke raised the prospect that Flynn could get a harsher sentence. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:15 p.m. 
 
 A federal judge has declared a recess until 12:30 p.m. at the sentencing hearing for former national security adviser Michael Flynn. 
 
 U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said Tuesday that he "can't hide my disgust, my disdain" for this criminal offense. 
 
 Flynn pleaded guilty last year to lying to the FBI about his Russia contacts. 
 
 Prosecutors are not seeking any prison time for Flynn, citing extensive cooperation in the special counsel's Russia probe. 
 
 Sullivan said he'll take into account Flynn's service to the country and his cooperation, but will also factor in aggravating factors in deciding his sentence. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:05 p.m. 
 
 A federal judge is telling former national security adviser Michael Flynn that "arguably you sold your country out." 
 
 U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan says he "can't hide my disgust, my disdain" for this criminal offense. 
 
 He says Flynn committed a "very serious offense" by lying to the FBI on the premises of the White House. 
 
 The judge is asking Flynn if he wants to postpone his sentencing so that he can get full credit for his cooperation. 
 
 He says he'll take into account Flynn's service to the country and his cooperation, but will also factor in aggravating factors in deciding his sentence. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:00 p.m. 
 
 The White House was still questioning the FBI's tactics in how it handled Michael Flynn's case shortly before President Donald Trump's former national security adviser's sentencing Tuesday. 
 
 White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders is claiming in an interview with Fox News that Flynn was "ambushed by investigators" and alleges the FBI "broke every standard protocol" and "went outside of the bounds and the scope of the way that they should operate" when they interviewed him in January 2017. 
 
 Flynn's lawyers have suggested that investigators discouraged him from having an attorney present and never informed him it was a crime to lie. 
 
 But Flynn told the judge at Tuesday's hearing that he did indeed know that it was a crime to lie to the FBI. He also said he didn't want to formally challenge the interview. 
 
 ___ 
 
 11:55 a.m. 
 
 A prosecutor with special counsel Robert Mueller's office says it's possible that former national security adviser Michael Flynn may continue to cooperate going forward. 
 
 But prosecutor Brandon Van Grack told a judge at the sentencing hearing Tuesday that the government was ready to sentence Flynn because of the extensive cooperation he's already given, which includes help that led to a foreign lobbying indictment in Virginia that was made public a day earlier. 
 
 Van Grack did not elaborate on the type of investigations or issues that Flynn might be called upon to cooperate with in the future. 
 
 Normally, defendants are sentenced at the conclusion of their cooperation so that a judge can evaluate how much credit they deserve for helping the government. 
 
 ___ 
 
 11:25 a.m. 
 
 A federal judge is making sure that former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn entered his guilty plea knowingly and voluntarily. 
 
 That's because of a defense memo in which Flynn said the FBI never warned him that it was against the law to lie to federal agents. He pleaded guilty last year to lying to the FBI. 
 
 U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan is asking Flynn a series of questions Tuesday to make sure that Flynn wants to move forward with his sentencing hearing. 
 
 Flynn told the judge that he did indeed know that it was a crime to lie to the FBI. He also says he doesn't want to formally challenge the FBI's interview of him. 
 
 ___ 
 
 10:15 a.m. 
 
 Former national security adviser Michael Flynn has arrived at the federal courthouse in Washington ahead of his sentencing hearing. 
 
 Flynn is to be sentenced at 11 a.m. on Tuesday for lying to the FBI about contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States. 
 
 He'll be the first White House official punished in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia. 
 
 Prosecutors are not seeking any prison time for Flynn, citing extensive cooperation that has included 19 meetings with investigators. 
 
 The sentencing decision will be up to U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:05 a.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump is wishing ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn "good luck" in court as Flynn awaits sentencing for lying to the FBI. 
 
 Trump tweeted hours before Flynn's sentencing Tuesday in federal court in Washington that it "will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign." The president adds: "There was no Collusion!" 
 
 In another tweet, Trump again disparages the investigation into possible coordination between his campaign and Russia as a "Witch Hunt." 
 
 Flynn's lawyers have suggested investigators discouraged him from having an attorney present during a 2017 interview and didn't inform him lying is a crime, but prosecutors scoff at that argument. 
 
 Flynn has cooperated with the Russia investigation. 
 
 The special counsel's investigation has produced dozens of criminal charges and four guilty pleas from Trump associates. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:25 a.m. 
 
 Michael Flynn will likely walk out of a courtroom a free man due to his extensive cooperation with federal prosecutors, but the run-up to his sentencing Tuesday has exposed raw tensions over an FBI interview in which he lied about his Russian contacts. 
 
 Flynn has not tried to retract his guilty plea, and there's every indication the sentencing will proceed as scheduled. 
 
 Flynn's lawyers have suggested that investigators discouraged President Donald Trump's then-national security adviser from having an attorney present during the January 2017 interview and never informed him it was a crime to lie. 
 
 Prosecutors responded that Flynn didn't need to be warned it's a crime to lie to federal agents to know the importance of telling the truth.
– Michael Flynn's fate was in the hands of Judge Emmet Sullivan on Tuesday, and the federal judge dished out a surprise twist: The sentencing ended up being delayed after Sullivan suggested Flynn could actually get prison time despite the prosecution's recommendation he get none. Sullivan was doing no coddling at the start. "Arguably, you sold your country out," is how he put it to President Trump's former national security adviser, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the US. Sullivan added he "can't hide my disgust, my disdain" at Flynn's misdeeds. CNBC reports Sullivan offered Flynn the option of postponing the hearing in order to cooperate further with Robert Mueller's probe. "If you want to postpone this, and come back at some later point ... that’s fine with me," Sullivan said, advising him that the sentence could be different if he went that route. "I can not assure you that if you proceed today, you will not receive a sentence of incarceration," Sullivan said. After a recess, Flynn's attorneys requested such a delay. The AP reports Sullivan scheduled a status conference for March.