Newly released FBI documents turned over to former national security adviser Michael Flynn show agents openly questioned if their “goal” was to “get him to lie,” so they could “prosecute him or get him fired,” when questioning him about Russian contacts.
The documents, provided by the Justice Department as part of a re-examination of Flynn’s case, include a single page of handwritten notes.
While the notes are not listed with an author, they are believed to have been written by former FBI counterintelligence director Bill Priestap. The notes were taken in January 2017, following a meeting with former FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, according to Fox News.
Priestap’s handwritten remarks were taken down on the heels of a critical interview with the newly installed national security adviser regarding Flynn’s contacts weeks earlier with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
“What’s our goal? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?” Priestap wrote. “If we get him to admit to breaking the Logan Act, give facts to DOJ & have them decide. Or, if he initially lies, then we present him [redacted] & he admits it, document for DOJ, & let them decide how to address it.”
Priestap went on to note that his work must “protect our institution by not playing games,” also saying that “If we are seen as playing games, [the White House] will be furious.”
In a 2018 public appearance, Comey admitted his decision to send FBI agents for the interview in question with Gen. Flynn was not standard practice. Speaking to MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace in a forum discussion, Comey said the interview was “something I probably wouldn’t have done or maybe gotten away with in a more … organized administration.”
He explained, “If the FBI wanted to send agents into the White House itself to interview a senior official, you would work through the White House counsel, and there would be discussions and approvals of who would be there.”
However, the former FBI director and outspoken critic of President Trump decided to bypass protocol in this instance, saying, “I thought, ‘It’s early enough, let’s just send a couple guys over.’”
Flynn pleaded guilty in late 2017 to lying to the FBI about conversations he had with Kislyak. However, his lawyers now say they believe this document supports their case to reverse his plea, citing investigative misconduct.
Sidney Powell, Flynn’s attorney, said in a Fox News appearance Wednesday night of the documents, “It’s just absolutely appalling what these agents, and then special counsel operatives, did to General Flynn. It’s abuse of their authority at every turn.”
Trump appears to agree, saying in a Thursday morning tweet, “What happened to General Michael Flynn, a war hero, should never be allowed to happen to a citizen of the United States again!”
The commander-in-chief continued in a later post, “DIRTY COP JAMES COMEY GOT CAUGHT!”