Trump says it will be 'interesting to see' what Michael Flynn has to say in court, as former aide sentenced

Donald Trump has wished Michael Flynn good luck ahead of his former national security adviser's sentencing for lying to the FBI, saying it will be "interesting to see what he has to say".

In an early morning tweet ahead of the former aide's appearance in court this afternoon, the president said: "Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn. 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!"

Mr Trump had earlier attacked Robert Mueller's investigation into possible election collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.

"Biggest outrage yet in the long, winding and highly conflicted Mueller Witch Hunt is the fact that 19,000 demanded Text messages between Peter Strzok and his FBI lover, Lisa Page, were purposely & illegally deleted," he wrote, without providing evidence.

The Justice Department's watchdog concluded in a report published last week there was no suggestion the FBI intentionally destroyed text messages sent by former agent Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who were involved in the Hillary Clinton email investigation when they worked for the bureau.

Follow live updates on Michael Flynn's sentencing for lying to the FBI

"Would have explained whole Hoax, which is now under protest!" Mr Trump concluded.

Flynn is the latest Trump ally to appear before a judge as a result of Mr Mueller's investigation.

It follows the sentencing last week of Mr Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to three years in prison, in part for a charge brought by Mr Mueller for lying to congress.

The former director of the Defence Intelligence Agency, however, will likely walk out of the courtroom in DC a free man due to his extensive cooperation with the special counsel investigation.

But the run-up to his sentencing hearing has exposed raw tensions over an FBI interview in which he lied about his Russian contacts.

Lawyers for Flynn have suggested investigators discouraged him from having an attorney present during the January 2017 interview and never informed him it was a crime to lie.

Prosecutors shot back: "He does not need to be warned it is a crime to lie to federal agents to know the importance of telling them the truth."

On Monday evening, the dispute — and a judge's intervention — led prosecutors to publicly file a redacted copy of the notes from Flynn's FBI interview that largely bolster the case, showing he told agents things he later said were false.

The defence's argument spurred speculation Flynn may be trying to get sympathy from Mr Trump, or may be playing to a judge known for a zero-tolerance view of government misconduct.

"It's an attempt, I think, to perhaps characterise Flynn as a victim or perhaps to make him look sympathetic in the eyes of a judge — and, at the same time, to portray the special counsel in a negative light," said former federal prosecutor Jimmy Gurule.

Until the duelling memos were filed last week, Flynn had cooperated extensively and largely eschewed the aggressive tactics of others involved in the Mueller probe.

Mr Mueller's office even praised Flynn's cooperation and recommended against prison for the 60-year-old.

Additional reporting by AP