Posted on 06/06/2019 8:21:33 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
Prosecutors have released a less-redacted version of an FBI memo describing the interview agents had with President Trump’s national security adviser Michael Flynn in January 2017.
The document shows that Flynn told investigators that Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak asked him during a Dec. 28, 2016, phone call to set up a “VTC,” an apparent reference to a video teleconference, between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Flynn told investigators that Kislyak requested that the video conference occur on Jan. 21, the day after Trump was inaugurated as president, according to the memo.
Flynn has since pleaded guilty to lying to FBI investigators about his contacts with Kislyak, particularly by denying that the two discussed sanctions on Moscow imposed by the Obama administration in response to Russian interference in the election. The guilty plea was part of a deal to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation in December 2017.
The memo, a more restricted version of which was released in December, shows that Flynn repeatedly denied having any discussions with Kislyak about the sanctions on Russia when questioned by the agents.
The new version of the memo, known as an FD-302, also shows that Flynn told FBI agents that he met with Kislyak and Jared Kushner at Trump Tower in New York City following the 2016 election. The meeting has previously been subject to press reporting and is referenced in Mueller’s 448-page report, a redacted version of which was released in April following the conclusion of his investigation. The memo describes the meeting as “sensitive.”
“KISLYAK was in New York to meet with his diplomats, and the three had a relatively sensitive meeting. FLYNN was a late addition to the meeting and did not participate in setting it up,” the memo states.
“FLYNN believed the meeting took place before Thanksgiving but was unsure of the date. FLYNN explained that other meetings between the TRUMP team and various foreign countries took place prior to the inauguration, and were sensitive inasmuch as many countries did not want the then-current administration to know about them,” it continues.
Flynn also told the FBI that he and other members of the Trump administration met with representatives of other countries “to set expectations for them, and the expectations were set very high.”
Mueller’s report provided an exhaustive account of numerous contacts between the Trump campaign and Moscow. The special counsel did not find evidence to charge members of the campaign with conspiring with Russia to interfere in the election.
The memo was first made public by Mueller’s prosecutors in December, before Flynn was scheduled to be sentenced. Flynn requested to postpone his sentencing until after he was finished cooperating with the government, after Judge Emmet Sullivan criticized him in court and suggested he could receive jail time.
Flynn is expected to testify against his former business partner Bijan Kian at a trial this summer and be sentenced sometime after that. His case is currently being handled by federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., after Mueller concluded his investigation.
Sullivan granted prosecutors’ request earlier Thursday to disclose more information from the memos because there no longer exists a “compelling government interest” to keep them sealed.
The new details come amid other drama in Flynn’s case. Earlier Thursday, a court filing revealed Flynn had fired his Covington & Burling attorneys and replaced them with new counsel.
Why didn't Putin just call Trump himself?
“KISLYAK was in New York to meet with his diplomats, and the three had a relatively sensitive meeting. FLYNN was a late addition to the meeting and did not participate in setting it up,” the memo states.
One would think if you're participating in collusion with Russia you won't be late to such meetings.
I would imagine that numerous heads of state around the world try to set up meetings/calls/conferences with newly inaugurated U.S. presidents.
This is meaningless fluff that Mueller and team spent $35 million taxpayer dollars on.
These are the straws Democrats are grasping.
If you go around the DC area, and ask how many VTC ‘rooms’ exist under federal control....I would imagine it’s close to 500 of these. And that’s just the dedicated rooms with the $10k or more gear, and the nice lighting. What do the investigators suspect the VTC gear is for?
They can grasp all they want. Mueller had this info from Flynn's 302's, and obviously didn't find anything wrong.
Ahem.. POST ELECTION.
All of these so called “meetings” were perfectly legal and acceptable. He WAS the President elect. Of course he would be working before taking office. There is NO President elect who hasn’t been in contact with Russia or other major companies in some aspect before actually taking office. To do otherwise is foolish and derelict.
The DemonRats are crazy and pathetic. It’s a disgrace that anyone takes them seriously.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.