Posted on 12/04/2017 12:39:04 PM PST by TigerClaws
“The most logical thing to happen would be to call the other FBI Special Agent present during Flynn’s interview before the Grand Jury to recount his version,” said a former U.S. Intelligence Official, with knowledge of the interview. A supervisory special agent who is now under scrutiny after being removed from Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office for alleged bias against President Trump also oversaw the bureau’s interviews of embattled former National Security advisor Michael Flynn, this reporter has learned. Flynn recently pled guilty to one-count of lying to the FBI last week.
FBI agent Peter Strzok was one of two FBI agents who interviewed Flynn, which took place on Jan. 24, at the White House, said several sources. The other FBI special agent, who interviewed Flynn, is described by sources as a field supervisor in the “Russian Squad, at the FBI’s Washington Field Office,” according to a former intelligence official, with knowledge of the interview.
Strzok was removed from his role in the Special Counsel’s Office after it was discovered he had made disparaging comments about President Trump in text messages between him and his alleged lover FBI attorney Lisa Page, according to the New York Times and Washington Post, which first reported the stories. Strzok is also under investigation by the Department of Justice Inspector General for his role in Hillary Clinton’s email server and the ongoing investigation into Russia’s election meddling. On Saturday, the House Intelligence Committee’s Chairman Devin Nunes chided the Justice Department and the FBI for not disclosing why Strzok had been removed from the Special Counsel three months ago, according to a statement given by the Chairman.
The former U.S. intelligence official told this reporter, “with the recent revelation that Strzok was removed from the Special Counsel investigation for making anti-Trump text messages it seems likely that the accuracy and veracity of the 302 of Flynn’s interview as a whole should be reviewed and called into question.”
“The most logical thing to happen would be to call the other FBI Special Agent present during Flynn’s interview before the Grand Jury to recount his version,” the former intelligence official added.
The former official also said that “Strzok’s allegiance to (Deputy Director Andrew) McCabe was unwavering and very well known.”
Flynn, a retired three-star general, issued a statement on Dec. 1, saying, “it has been extraordinarily painful to endure these many months of false accusations of “treason” and other outrageous acts. Such false accusations are contrary to everything I have ever done and stood for. But I recognize that the actions I acknowledged in court today were wrong, and, through my faith in God, I am working to set things right.”
According to another source, with direct knowledge of the Jan. 24 interview, McCabe had contacted Flynn by phone directly at the White House. White House officials had spent the “earlier part of the week with the FBI overseeing training and security measures associated with their new roles so it was no surprise to Flynn that McCabe had called,” the source said.
McCabe told Flynn “some agents were heading over (to the White House) but Flynn thought it was part of the routine work the FBI had been doing and said they would be cleared at the gate,” the source said.
“It wasn’t until after they were already in (Flynn’s) office that he realized he was being formerly interviewed. He didn’t have an attorney with him,” they added.
Flynn’s attorney Robert Kelner did not respond for comment.
A former senior Trump administration official, however, described Strzok as one of the “best agents in the bureau. And has now become the latest victim in the Russia investigation.”
“He was the top counterintelligence agent and an asset to the bureau and America,” said the official, who disputed that Strozk would let his political leanings influence his work, despite the alleged anti-Trump text messages his sent Page.
FBI spokeswoman Carol Cratty could not be immediately reached for comment. Strzok could also not be reached for comment.
A former FBI agent said the investigation into Strzok and the reported text messages between him and Page, shows a “bias that cannot be ignored particularly if he had anything to do with Flynn’s interview and his role in it.”
The former U.S. intelligence official questioned, “how logical is it that Flynn is being charged for lying to an agent whose character and neutrality was called into question by the Special Counsel.”
According to an anonymous source in The Washington Post, Strzok’s and Page had exchanged a number of texts that ”expressed anti-Trump sentiments and other comments that appeared to favor Clinton.”
Nunes said Saturday that the mistress of Strzok, who was the top FBI official assigned to Mueller’s Special Counsel, was an FBI lawyer working for FBI Deputy Director McCabe.
The FBI and Justice Department have “failed to sufficiently cooperate with the Committee’s August 24 subpoena, and have specifically refused repeated demands from the House Intelligence Committee for an explanation of Pete Strzok’s dismissal from the Mueller probe,” Nunes said.
“We now know why Strzok was dismissed, why the FBI and DOJ refused to provide us this explanation, and at least one reason why they previously refused to make Deputy Director McCabe available to the Committee for an interview,” the chairman added.
Justice Department spokewoman Sarah Isgur Flores said, “we disagree with the Chairman’s characterization and will continue to work with congressional committees to provide the information they request consistent with our national security responsibilities.”
Isgur Flores said in a written statement to this reporter that the Justice Department provided the House Intelligence committee and leadership with “several hundred pages of classified documents and multiple briefings—including for example clear answers as to whether any FBI payments were made to a source in question related to the dossier—and has more recently cleared key witnesses they have requested to testify, including Mr. McCabe, Mr. Strzok, and the alleged handler in question.”
But Nunes said, “by hiding from Congress, and from the American people, documented political bias by a key FBI head investigator for both the Russia collusion probe and the Clinton email investigation, the FBI and DOJ engaged in a willful attempt to thwart Congress’ constitutional oversight responsibility.”
He added “this is part of a months-long pattern by the DOJ and FBI of stonewalling and obstructing this Committee’s oversight work, particularly oversight of their use of the Steele dossier. At this point, these agencies should be investigating themselves.”
Nunes instructed the House Intelligence Committee staff on Saturday “to begin drawing up a contempt of Congress resolution for DOJ Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray. Unless all our outstanding demands are fully met by close of business on Monday, December 4, 2017, the committee will have the opportunity to move this resolution before the end of the month.”
A source familiar with the chairman’s request said Nunes knows the answers to “whether FBI paid for dossier, whether dossier launched investigation, whether the dossier was used as basis for FISA applications. what steps FBI took to verify dossier upon receipt and since in addition, DOJ has cleared every witness he asked for. Period.”
Just damn.
The FBI routinely refuses to record interviews, relying instead on the agents handwritten notes. This allows them to accuse anyone of lying to them. Suddenly it's your word against their notes about what you actually said in the interview.
Don't talk to cops. Have them submit their questions in writing for your later response after consulting your attorney.
And FBI valet service!
Never understood the notion of cooperating with an interview with state agents without chronicling the interview completely. It worked for HRC because the fix was in but it was also in against Flynn.
Meeting was in WH....
Funny how all of this info has come out only after Flynn's announced guilty plea on Friday. Had this all come out on Thursday, the charges against Flynn would have to be dropped and the Mueller investigation totally discredited.
“I have no doubt Obama/Hillary spied on Trump all along.”
No doubt.
“Their plan was to push Trump because they thought he was the weakest candidate for the GOP - remember how friendly Morning Joe was back then?”
Dems are dumb, I’m not sure they were that stoopid. They knew Trump was the biggest threat to Hillary, they just thought they could ignore him away. That he would self-destruct.
Question for Freeper criminal defense attorneys: if Flynn was unaware of the agent’s bias and removal, can he withdraw his guilty plea now?
Pardoning Flynn will be the easy part. He’ll need to be made whole after this.
Seriously, thought Trump was the easiest to beat and promoted him as best they could. They actually feared Marco the most - Hispanic, generation gap as she had with Obama.
Trump was, to them, an easy to beat political novice.
Here’a related article on the FBI “in tatters” and the agent pulled off the case.
https://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/trumps-right-fbi-tatters/
Yeah the FBI relies on it’s agents recollections, yet when multiple witneses see a missile the FBI says the eyewitness testimony is not very reliable.
No reason to think Flynn’s office (National Security Advisor) was having all of his meetings recorded. At least I have never yet seen anything to indicate that all of Flynn’s White House meetings were recorded....
Montage Of Liberals Laughing At Trump’s Chances Of Victory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Sfeq-Dzqg
I recall that Bill Clinton was said to be encouraging Trump to run for President before the campaign process ever began. I think the Clintonistas initially thought Trump would just be a great disruptor for the Republicans — they thought he would weaken/undermine the then “leading” Republican candidates but prove unelectable himself. The Clintons (and Scarborough et al.) were at first using Trump to try to weaken the Republicans. But Trump proved much to wily and strong for them, he turned out to be an actually compelling candidate with some powerful conservative ideas, and not simply a Trojan Horse for the Democrats!!!!
Does anyone really believe this is the reason for the removal?
Nearly the whole Mueller team is pro-Clinton/Obama and anti-Trump. When they knock off for happy hour, they probably go around the room telling Trump jokes or stories about how wonderful Hillary is.
Removed for anti-Trump text messages? This smells like the old modified limited hang-out, in which something that sounds sort of damaging is trotted out as the public explanation when in fact something much more damaging was going on that is not disclosed.
Is this grounds for vacating his guilty plea?
Sounds like he represented a lot of his interview with Flynn in the WH incorrectly to his superiors who made moves based on him doing that and there’s a recording to throw this whole thing out/reverse it.
And the corrupt FBI never records their interviews.
Make him a special prosecutor.
Shut it down!
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