Well here’s one for the books.
What we know at this point is that officials at the FBI specifically manuevered their investigation of Michael Flynn in such a way to catch him in the crime of “lying to investigators.”
Day by day, we’re learning more and more about the deep-state corruption that was occuring at the FBI during Obama’s presidency. It’s pretty clear that some officials at the FBI used their power to go after the Trump campaign and anyone associated with it.
Of course, the most high-profile victim of all this was Michael Flynn.
Charges against Flynn for “lying to investigators” have since been dropped by the DOJ.
Now, Flynn’s top attorney claims that President Obama had information that the FBI was in the act of framing Flynn.
Here’s the latest details from Fox News:
Former National Security Adviser Gen. Michael Flynn’s lead attorney accused top officials of orchestrating a plot to frame her client, insisting that former President Barack Obama himself was in on it.
Flynn had initially pleaded guilty to providing a false statement to the FBI regarding his contact with a Russian ambassador, but later changed his story and pushed back by questioning the FBI’s tactics.
“These agents specifically schemed and planned with each other how to not tip him off, that he was even the person being investigated,” Powell told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” pointing to evidence that FBI agents took a casual approach with Flynn, not telling him they were investigating him and not warning him that it would be a federal crime to lie during their conversation.
“So they kept him relaxed and unguarded deliberately as part of their effort to set him up and frame him,” Powell said.
According to recently released testimony, President Obama revealed during an Oval Office meeting weeks before the interview that he knew about Flynn’s phone call with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, apparently surprising then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.
After the meeting, Obama asked Yates and then-FBI Director James Comey to “stay behind.” Obama “specified that he did not want any additional information on the matter, but was seeking information on whether the White House should be treating Flynn any differently, given the information.”
“The whole thing was orchestrated and set up within the FBI, [former Director of National Intelligence James] Clapper, [Former CIA Director John] Brennan, and in the Oval Office meeting that day with President Obama,” Powell said.
When asked if she believes that Flynn was the victim of a plot that went all the way up to Obama, Powell said, “Absolutely.”
If this is true and President Obama inserted himself into this matter, it would represent a disgusting abuse of presidential power.
Support for Flynn erupted on Twitter:
Rightfully so, President Trump apparently is furious over the whole matter. He's been tweeting non-stop, even dubbing the alleged scanadal "Obamagate."
More from The Guardian on Trump's opinion:
Donald Trump continued to fume over the Russia investigation on Sunday, more than a year after special counsel Robert Mueller filed his report without recommending charges against the president but only three days after the justice department said it would drop its case against Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser.
“The biggest political crime in American history, by far!” the president wrote in a tweet accompanying a conservative talk show host’s claim that Barack Obama “used his last weeks in office to target incoming officials and sabotage the new administration”.
The tweet echoed previous messages retweeted by Trump, which earned rebukes for relaying conspiracy theories. On Sunday afternoon the president continued to send out a stream of tweets of memes and rightwing talking heads claiming an anti-Trump conspiracy. One tweet by Trump simply read: “OBAMAGATE!”
Trump fired Flynn, a retired general, in early 2017, for lying to Vice-President Mike Pence about conversations with the Russian ambassador regarding sanctions levied by the Obama administration in retaliation for interference in the 2016 election.
The US intelligence community has long held that such efforts were meant to tip the election towards Trump and away from Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee.
Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI – which Trump has acknowledged – and co-operated with Mueller, who was appointed to take over the investigation of Russian interference after Trump fired FBI director James Comey.
Mueller did not establish a criminal conspiracy but did lay out extensive links between Trump and Moscow and instances of possible obstruction of justice by the president.
Flynn sought to change his plea while awaiting sentencing and the president championed his case, floating a possible pardon. On Thursday, in an act that stunned the US media, attorney general William Barr said the justice department would drop the case entirely.
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!