It seems the only ones who still think ex-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is guilty of anything are the usual suspects: anti-Trump clowns. Forget the politically motivated charges against Flynn, these folks are simply ignoring the horrific deviations from policy here and the heinous acts of overreach conducted by the FBI to scalp a Trump official because they so desperately wanted Russian collusion to be true.
The FBI stumbled into this mess and instead of putting out the fire, they decided to pour gasoline on it. This Flynn fiasco shows the lengths at which the FBI will go to ensure their messes aren’t revealed and how they’re willing to destroy someone’s life to make sure their dirty laundry isn’t aired. This is our preeminent domestic law enforcement and domestic intelligence agency. This should scare all of us—and yes, we’re once again reminded that the Trump-Russia collusion hysteria was a myth, it was a hoax, and that government isn’t our friend. Flynn is an unfortunate casualty, but this should be a warning to everyone about what this agency can do to its own citizens. They’re supposed to be impartial. They are not. I’m a huge supporter of law and order and law enforcement. They are our finest, but we have a lot of bad cops in the DOJ/FBI and they should be dragged out forcefully.
Even liberal law professors, like Jonathan Turley who teaches at George Washington University Law School, said the Flynn case should be dropped, but also noted in the Department of Justice’s motion to dismiss, which was filed yesterday, the lengths at which then-FBI Director James Comey, his deputy, Andrew McCabe, and other FBI officials were willing to go to scalp Flynn at all costs. If he wants to, Turley alludes that there could be grounds for Flynn to sue to malicious prosecution [emphasis mine]:
In the motion below, the Justice Department stresses that “the citizen’s safety lies in the prosecutor who … seeks truth and not victims, who serves the law and not factional purposes, and who approaches [the] task with humility.” It also establishes that there was never a satisfaction of the materiality element to the criminal allegation:
“In the case of Mr. Flynn, the evidence shows his statements were not “material” to any viable counterintelligence investigation—or any investigation for that matter—initiated by the FBI. Indeed, the FBI itself had recognized that it lacked sufficient basis to sustain its initial counterintelligence investigation by seeking to close that very investigation without even an interview of Mr. Flynn. See Ex. 1 at 4. Having repeatedly found “no derogatory information” on Mr. Flynn, id. at 2, the FBI’s draft “Closing Communication” made clear that the FBI had found no basis to “predicate further investigative efforts” into whether Mr. Flynn was being directed and controlled by a foreign power (Russia) in a manner that threatened U.S. national security or violated FARA or its related statutes, id. at 3.”
It further notes that key figures like Andrew McCabe “cut off” objections to the overly aggressive pursuit of Flynn. It describes an effort of former Director James Comey, McCabe, and others to skip common protocols to bag Flynn at any cost on any grounds.
While malicious prosecution cases are notoriously difficult to prove (particularly in a case with a voluntary plea), the motion reinforces the view of many of us that the Justice Department was engaged in a campaign to incriminate Flynn — a campaign that now appears entirely detached from both the evidence and legal standards supporting a criminal charge.
Turley also hit McCabe, who is now with CNN, after he said this probe was done after “surreptitious” meetings with the Russians. Flynn told about these calls while adding that CNN, in typical fashion, never pressed McCabe about him being a proven liar, which led to his firing.
CNN just did a bizarre interview with McCabe who said that they were alarmed by Flynn having "surreptitious" meetings with the Russian ambassador. He was the including National Security Adviser. It was entirely legal ... https://t.co/D07AIG9gnr
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) May 8, 2020
McCabe said that this was like a drug case where you could not charge someone but then learned he was about to deal. There was no crime and McCabe and other were talking about using the flagrantly unconstitutional Logan Act in the absence of a crime...
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) May 8, 2020
The claim that this was "surreptitious" is bizarre. Flynn told the transition team about the call. It is not "surreptitious" because McCabe did not know about it and did not ask Trump official about a legal call with the Russians by the incoming National Security Adviser.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) May 8, 2020
CNN never raised that McCabe (who is a senior CNN analyst) was found to have lied by career investigators and referred him for possible criminal charges. McCabe said he wants to stand up for career DOJ folks but career people found he lied and committed possible crimes.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) May 8, 2020
Bring Comey, McCabe, and the rest of this gang back to the Hill. We have more questions.
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