U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was tormented by ā€œdirty copsā€ as part of the probe into whether Russia helped Trump win the White House in 2016.

The presidentā€™s comments in the Oval Office, latest in a string of remarks about Flynn, could increase the changes that the retired general could get a presidential pardon.

Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to making false statements in a charge brought by then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He now insisted he did not lie and wants to back out of the plea.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason, Editing by Franklin Paul)