A bombshell court filing from Michael Flynn’s new legal team alleges that FBI agents altered a ‘302’ form – the official record of the former national security adviser’s interview – that resulted in the DOJ charging him with lying to investigators.
Early last week Flynn attorney Sidney Powell filed a sealed reply to federal prosecutors’ claims that they have satisfied their requirements for turning over evidence in the case. A minimally redacted copy of the reply brief was made public late last week, revealing the plot to destroy Flynn, as reported by The Federalist‘s Margot Cleveland.
According to the 37-page motion, a team of “high-ranking FBI officials orchestrated an ambush-interview of the new president’s National Security Advisor, not for the purpose of discovering any evidence of criminal activity—they already had tapes of all the relevant conversations about which they questioned Mr. Flynn—but for the purpose of trapping him into making statements they could allege as false.”
At the heart of the matter is the 302 form ‘documenting’ an FBI interview in which Flynn was asked about his conversations with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Powell alleges that FBI lawyer Lisa Page edited her lover Peter Strzok’s account of the interview – texting him, “I made your edits.”
Early last week Flynn attorney Sidney Powell filed a sealed reply to federal prosecutors’ claims that they have satisfied their requirements for turning over evidence in the case. A minimally redacted copy of the reply brief was made public late last week, revealing the plot to destroy Flynn, as reported by The Federalist’s Margot Cleveland.
According to the 37-page motion, a team of “high-ranking FBI officials orchestrated an ambush-interview of the new president’s National Security Advisor, not for the purpose of discovering any evidence of criminal activity—they already had tapes of all the relevant conversations about which they questioned Mr. Flynn—but for the purpose of trapping him into making statements they could allege as false.”
At the heart of the matter is the 302 form ‘documenting’ an FBI interview in which Flynn was asked about his conversations with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Powell alleges that FBI lawyer Lisa Page edited her lover Peter Strzok’s account of the interview – texting him, “I made your edits.”
New Page/Strzok texts also include this post-Flynn interview analysis of Strzok.
This appears to confirm they left the interview thinking Flynn didn’t lie. pic.twitter.com/Gw99uMMrku
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) October 25, 2019
The edits explained via The Federalist:
“On February 10, 2017, the news broke—attributed to ‘senior intelligence officials’—that Mr. Flynn had discussed sanctions with Ambassador Kislyak, contrary to what Vice President Pence had said on television previously.” Following this leak, “overnight,” Flynn’s 302 was changed—and substantively so. “Those changes added an unequivocal statement that ‘FLYNN stated he did not’—in response to whether Mr. Flynn had asked Kislyak to vote in a certain manner or slow down the UN vote.”
“This is a deceptive manipulation” Powell highlighted, “because, as the notes of the agents show, Mr. Flynn was not even sure he had spoken to Russia/Kislyak on this issue. He had talked to dozens of countries.” The overnight changes to the 302 also included the addition of a line, indicating Flynn had been question on whether “KISLYAK described any Russian response to a request by FLYNN.”
But the agent’s notes do not include that question or answer, Powell stressed, yet it was later made into the criminal offense charges against Flynn. And “the draft also shows that the agents moved a sentence to make it seem to be an answer to a question it was not,” Powell added.
Here’s Powell describing how they know the 302 form was altered:
.@SidneyPowell1 explains what’s taking so long and h knew the 302‘s was altered. pic.twitter.com/F4BSQ9ZUBn
— The “Dirty” Truth (@AKA_RealDirty) October 25, 2019
.@SidneyPowell1 explains what’s taking so long and h knew the 302‘s was altered. pic.twitter.com/F4BSQ9ZUBn
— The “Dirty” Truth (@AKA_RealDirty) October 25, 2019
Lisa Page lied to the DOJ about her edits to the Flynn 302.
“Page didn’t recall whether she took part in editing the FD-302”
Upon seeing her texts, she “believes she must have seen it at some point…” pic.twitter.com/fgMaZcWnWa
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) October 25, 2019
Laying the groundwork
Leading up to the interview with Flynn, the text messages reveal that the FBI wanted to capitalize on news of the ‘salacious and unverified’ Steele dossier – and whether they “can use it as a pretext to go interview some people,” Strzok texted Page.
Then, quoting from a sealed statement by Strzok, Powell reveals that over next two weeks, there were “many meetings” between Strzok and [FBI Deputy Director Andrew] McCabe to discuss “whether to interview [] National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and if so, what interview strategies to use.” And “on January 23, the day before the interview, the upper echelon of the FBI met to orchestrate it all. Deputy Director McCabe, General Counsel James Baker, Lisa Page, Strzok, David Bowdich, Trish Anderson, and Jen Boone strategized to talk with Mr. Flynn in such a way as to keep from alerting him from understanding that he was being interviewed in a criminal investigation of which he was the target.”
Next came “Comey’s direction to ‘screw it’ in contravention of longstanding DOJ protocols,” leading McCabe to personally call Flynn to schedule the interview. Yet none of Comey’s notes on the decision to interview Flynn were turned over to defense. Even Obama-holdover “Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates candidly opined that the interview ‘was problematic’ and ‘it was not always clear what the FBI was doing to investigate Flynn,” Powell stressed. Yet again, the prosecution did not turn over Yates’ notes, but only “disclosed a seven-line summary of Ms. Yates statement six months after Mr. Flynn’s plea.” -The Federalist
‘Kill Shot’
Another startling claim in Powell’s filing references a purported conversation between former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Washington Post reporter David Ignatius, which claims Clapper told the reporter “words to the effect of ‘take the kill shot on Flynn,’ after Ignatius reportedly obtained the transcript of Flynn’s phone calls.
Clapper’s spokesman told Fox News that he “absolutely did not say those words to David Ignatius,” adding “It’s absolutely false” and “absurd.”
Powell claims that Ignatius was given the Flynn-Kislyak call transcripts by a Pentagon official who was also Stefan Halper’s “handler.” Halper – who was paid over $1 million by the Obama administration – was one of many spies the FBI sent to infiltrate the Trump campaign.
Halper, in 2016, contacted several members of the Trump campaign including former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos and former aides Carter Page and Sam Clovis.
“The evidence the defense requests will eviscerate any factual basis for the plea and reveal the conduct so outrageous—if there is not enough already—to mandate dismissal of this prosecution for egregious government misconduct,” Powell wrote. –Fox News
Lastly, Powell’s filing also notes that US District Judge Rudolph Contreras, who recused himself after accepting Flynn’s guilty plea, had a personal relationship with Peter Strzok, according to text messages.
“The government knew that well in advance of Mr. Flynn’s plea that Judge Contreras was a friend of Peter Strzok and his recusal was even discussed in an exchange of multiple texts,” writes Powell, referencing Strzok-Page texts discussing Strzok and Contreras speaking “in detail” about anything “meaningful enough to warrant recusal.”
“The government knew that well in advance of Mr. Flynn’s plea that Judge Contreras was a friend of Peter Strzok and his recusal was even discussed in an exchange of multiple texts.”
Meanwhile, Clapper – who is now under criminal investigation – is getting nervous…
Check out Clapper stutter his way through an interview 20 mins after he finds out he’s under criminal investigation pic.twitter.com/C82G3CvH8V
— Quoth the Raven (@QTRResearch) October 25, 2019
Perhaps Obama should be too?
LOL. Barack Obama is going to love this interview his former DIA James Clapper just gave to CNN about the Durham probe: “It’s frankly disconcerting to be investigated for having done… what we were told to do by the president of the United States.” https://t.co/peAoCvjWCg
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) October 25, 2019
Source: ZeroHedge