Newly unredacted portions of the House Intelligence Committee’s final report on Russia were released on Friday and they contain a bombshell relating to what former FBI Director James Comey’s told lawmakers about the bureau’s investigation into Michael Flynn.
What are the details?
According to Fox News, the documents show Comey told lawmakers the FBI did not believe Flynn intentionally lied about his contacts with Russian diplomats.
“Director Comey testified to the Committee that ‘the agents…discerned no physical indications of deception. They didn’t see any change in posture, in tone, in inflection, in eye contact. They saw nothing that indicated to them that he knew he was lying to them,’” the report states.
However, as the report also states, then FBI-deputy director Andrew McCabe called the Flynn case a “conundrum” because even though they knew Flynn wasn’t deceptive, his statement contradicted what they knew from a wiretapped conversation Flynn had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in Dec. 2016.
“The two people who interviewed [Flynn] didn’t think he was lying, [which] was not [a] great beginning of a false statement case,” McCabe told the House Intel Committee.
Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI last year, which reportedly caught many lawmakers off guard given Comey’s testimony.
The new unredacted portion of the report raises a number of questions about the Flynn investigation, including why the House Intel report originally redacted the portion detailing that McCabe told lawmakers the FBI basically had no case against Flynn.
The most recent unclassified version of the House Intel Committee’s report exposes how DOJ and FBI improperly use redactions to protect people like James Comey from public scrutiny. The before/after versions show what dirty pool DOJ/FBI were playing. Examples forthcoming…
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 4, 2018
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 4, 2018
Compare the fully redacted version that came out last week to the mostly unredacted version that came out today. Do you see what DOJ/FBI tried to cover up? McCabe said they hadn’t substantiated anything against Flynn, and the ambush of Flynn at the WH was directed by Comey. pic.twitter.com/6Fc9U3kVwM
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 4, 2018
Compare these two pages. The initial redacted version hid clear testimony that the FBI didn’t think Flynn lied. McCabe: “The two people who interviewed [Flynn] didn’t think he was lying[.]” And: “[N]ot [a] great beginning of a false statement case[.]” pic.twitter.com/MZNIHCGzPU
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 4, 2018
DOJ/FBI also tried to hide Comey’s clear testimony that FBI agents didn’t think Flynn lied. Here’s what they covered up: “Comey testified to the Committee that ‘the agents…discerned no physical indications of deception. They saw nothing that indicated…he was lying to them.'” pic.twitter.com/bEUiinjxlQ
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 4, 2018
Now compare those statements under oath from Comey with what he told @BretBaier on television last week. It’s extremely difficult to reconcile them. pic.twitter.com/UZqj07rMpp
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 4, 2018
Now compare those statements under oath from Comey with what he told @BretBaier on television last week. It’s extremely difficult to reconcile them. pic.twitter.com/UZqj07rMpp
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 4, 2018
The Flynn redactions appear to have been done to protect a false statements case with no evidentiary basis. Others were done to hide apparent conspiracy to spy on and leak against Trump officials out of spite over the election results.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 5, 2018
The Flynn redactions appear to have been done to protect a false statements case with no evidentiary basis. Others were done to hide apparent conspiracy to spy on and leak against Trump officials out of spite over the election results.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 5, 2018
With that context in mind, additional redacted material suggests that the illegal leaks against Flynn were done entirely to justify continuing an investigation against him that the FBI had already determined was without basis. This is not how the rule of law works.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 5, 2018
Wait, didn’t Comey say something else publicly?
Following the release of his book, “A Higher Loyalty,” Comey hit the media circuit where he was pressed on the Flynn investigation. During multiple interviews, he denied telling lawmakers that the FBI agents who interviewed Flynn did not believe he lied.
“No. And I saw that in the media. I don’t know what — maybe someone misunderstood something I said. I didn’t believe that, and didn’t say that,” he told Fox News anchor Bret Baier.
“I don’t know where that’s coming from. That — unless I’m — I said something that people misunderstood, I don’t remember even intending to say that. So my recollection is I never said that to anybody,” Comey similarly told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, the Washington Examiner noted.
