Former FBI Director James Comey reportedly testified before Congress that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn didn’t lie to the FBI, according to the Washington Examiner‘s Byron York.
In March 2017, around a month after Flynn resigned over reports that he misled Vice President Mike Pence over his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, Comey spoke in a closed-door session with congressional lawmakers. According to York, Comey told legislators that in an interview conducted by FBI agents in January after Flynn joined the White House, Flynn did not lie or mislead the FBI.
That has renewed calls online, mostly among conservative activists, that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump administration is a witch hunt.
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/963212908443283456
https://twitter.com/mflynnJR/status/963223942659002376
History will show that @GenFlynn was a patriot maliciously targeted by Mueller and his Deep State handlers.
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) February 13, 2018
Flynn’s plea must be vacated and all charges dismissed with prejudice. https://t.co/AFPJ8xuTrD
Flynn prosecution by Mueller seems shady. @RealDonaldTrump should consider a pardon. The whole superstructure of the Russia-@RealDonaldTrump collusion investigation is suspect. @JudicialWatch in court actions to expose the facts. https://t.co/3dWLC1IMX2 pic.twitter.com/X7Bmf6Mr4l
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) February 13, 2018
According to York, who spoke to two sources who heard Comey’s testimony, Comey said that he “did not believe that Flynn had lied to [FBI agents], or that any inaccuracies in his answers were intentional.”
That led some members of Congress to believe Flynn wouldn’t be prosecuted for his behavior. But after Comey was ousted, the Mueller probe began, and Flynn was targeted.
Flynn was questioned by FBI agents over whether he violated the Logan Act, an obscure rule that prevents private citizens from negotiating with other countries on behalf of the U.S. government. The questioning came after then-deputy Attorney General Sally Yates realized that Flynn had lied to Pence about whether he contacted the Russian ambassador during the transition.
Although Flynn’s behavior in lying to the vice president was not criminal, Yates believed he was compromised enough to be possibly subjected to blackmail by Russians.
But York says it now all comes across as a hit job.
“To some Republicans, it appears the Justice Department used a never-enforced law and a convoluted theory as a pretext to question Flynn—and then, when FBI questioners came away believing Flynn had not lied to them, forged ahead with a false-statements prosecution anyway. The Flynn matter is at the very heart of the Trump-Russia affair, and there is still a lot to learn about it.
Regardless, Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI. His sentencing was recently delayed until May. Read the report here.
