A previously undisclosed document in the case of former national security adviser Michael Flynn offers a chilling blueprint into how top FBI officials not only sought to entrap the former Trump aide but sought to do so on blatantly unconstitutional, manufactured grounds.
The documents further undermine the view of the legitimacy and motivations of the investigations under former FBI director James Comey. Indeed, for those who have long seen a concerted effort within the Justice Department to target the Trump administration, the fragment will read like a Dead Sea Scrolls version of a “deep state” conspiracy.
One handwritten note reflects discussions within the FBI shortly after the 2016 election on how to entrap Flynn in an interview concerning his conversations with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. According to Fox News, the notes were written by the FBI's former head of counterintelligence, Bill Priestap, after a meeting with Comey and his deputy director, Andrew McCabe.
ADVERTISEMENT
The note states: “What is our goal? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?” The question may have expressed an honest question over the motivation behind this targeting of Flynn — a decision for which Comey later took credit when he told a thrilled audience that he decided he could “get away with” sending “a couple guys over” to the White House to bag Flynn.
The new material also explores how the Justice Department might “get [Flynn] to admit breaking the Logan Act,” a law dating from 1799 that makes it a crime for citizens to intervene in disputes or controversies between the United States and foreign governments. It has never been used to convict a single U.S. citizen and is widely viewed as flagrantly unconstitutional.
There was nothing illegal in Flynn — as the national security adviser to president elect Trump — meeting with Kislyak. To use this abusive law against the incoming national security adviser was utterly absurd (although other figures like then-Acting Attorney General Sally Yates also raised it). Nevertheless, the FBI latched onto this abusive law to target the retired Army general.
Another newly released document is an email from then-FBI lawyer Lisa Page to then-FBI special agent Peter Strzok, who played the key leadership role in targeting Flynn. In the email, Page suggests Flynn could be set up by making a passing reference to a federal law, 18 U.S.C. 1001, which criminalizes lies to federal investigators. She suggested to Strzok that “it would be an easy way to just casually slip that in.” This effort was not about protecting national security or learning critical intelligence. It was about bagging Flynn in the legal version of a canned trophy hunt.
What is equally disturbing is that this evidence was only recently disclosed by the DOJ. When Flynn was pressured to plead guilty to a single count of lying to federal investigators, he was unaware such evidence existed. He also was unaware that the investigators who interviewed him made clear to their superiors that they did not believe Flynn intentionally lied when he denied discussing U.S. sanctions against Russia with Kislyak. Special counsel Robert Mueller and his team changed all that and decided to bring the dubious charge. They drained Flynn financially, then threatened to charge his son if he did not cop a plea.
ADVERTISEMENT
Flynn never denied the conversation and knew the FBI had a transcript of the conversation. Trump had publicly discussed a desire to reframe Russian relations and renegotiate such areas of tension. Nevertheless, Flynn ultimately pleaded guilty to a single false statement to federal investigators under 18 U.S.C. 1001. This new information magnifies long-standing doubts over the Flynn case.
In the meantime, various FBI figures lied and acted in arguably criminal or unethical ways — but all escaped without a charge. McCabe played a supervisory role in the Flynn prosecution; he later was found by the Justice Department inspector general to have lied to investigators, repeatedly. While his case was referred for criminal charges, McCabe was fired but never charged. Strzok also was fired for his misconduct.
Comey intentionally leaked FBI material to the press — including potentially classified information — but was never charged. Another FBI agent responsible for the Russia investigation’s secret warrants falsified evidence to maintain the investigation; he still is not indicted. The disconnect of these cases with the treatment of Flynn is not just galling, it is grotesque.
Even the federal judge in the case has added to this highly disturbing record. When Flynn appeared before District Judge Emmet Sullivan for sentencing, Sullivan launched into him and said he could be charged with treason and with working as an unregistered agent on behalf of Turkey. Dramatically pointing to the flag behind him, Sullivan declared: “You were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the national security adviser to the president of the United States. That undermines everything this flag over here stands for. Arguably, you sold your country out.”
Flynn was never charged with treason or with being a foreign agent. However, when Sullivan menacingly asked if he wanted a sentence then and there, Flynn wisely passed. It is a record that truly shocks the conscience. While rare, it is still possible for the district court to right this wrong since Flynn has not been sentenced.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Justice Department can invite the court to use its inherent supervisory authority to right a wrong of its own making. As the Supreme Court stated in 1932, a “universal sense of justice” is a stake in such cases and it is “the duty of the court to stop the prosecution in the interest of the Government itself, to protect it from the illegal conduct of its officers and to preserve the purity of its courts.”
Flynn was a useful tool for everyone and everything but justice. Mueller ignored the view of the investigators and coerced Flynn to plead to a crime he did not commit — to gain damaging testimony against Trump and his associates that Flynn did not have. The media used Flynn to confirm the flawed theory of Russia collusion and to foster the view that a deep criminal conspiracy was being uncovered by Mueller. Even the judge used Flynn to rail against what he saw as a treasonous plot. What is left in the wake of the prosecution is an utter travesty of justice.
Justice now demands a dismissal of the Flynn prosecution. But, of course, whatever the “goal” may have been in setting up Flynn, justice was not one of them.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. You can find his updates online @JonathanTurley.
"case" - Google News
April 30, 2020 at 08:00PM
https://ift.tt/3d071La
Michael Flynn case should be dismissed to preserve justice | TheHill - The Hill
"case" - Google News
https://ift.tt/37dicO5
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Michael Flynn case should be dismissed to preserve justice | TheHill - The Hill"
Post a Comment