WASHINGTON – The long-awaited report from special counsel Robert Mueller provides new details from former national security adviser Michael Flynn about his lies to Vice President Mike…
WASHINGTON – The long-awaited report from special counsel Robert Mueller provides new details from former national security adviser Michael Flynn about his lies to Vice President Mike Pence.
Flynn also lied to President Donald Trump about lying to Pence.
Confronted by the president on Air Force One about whether he falsely described to Pence his conversation with Russia’s ambassador, Flynn told Trump that he may have forgotten details of his calls, but he did not think he lied, according to the report.
«The President responded, ‘Okay, That’s fine. I got it,'» according to Flynn’s testimony to special counsel Robert Mueller.
Pence was not asked by Mueller’s team for an interview but provided documents, according to a White House official.
Flynn’s testimony is part of the report’s expanded version of the previously known actions that led to Flynn’s firing and Trump urging former FBI director James Comey not to go after Flynn.
Trump’s pressure on Comey is one of the «key issues and events» that Mueller’s team considered when investigating whether Trump tried to illegally thwart the investigation.
Mueller’s office did not conclude that Trump’s actions were illegal, but also pointedly refused to clear him of wrongdoing, saying «if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state.”
Trump also was not interviewed by Mueller’s team. Instead, he provided written answers to submitted questions.
«After two years of investigation, conducted with the full cooperation of this administration, that involved hundreds of witness interviews and millions of pages of documents, the American people can see for themselves: no collusion, no obstruction,» Pence said in a statement Thursday.
Flynn was one of a half-dozen Trump aides who were charged by Mueller’s team and pleaded guilty. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents on the fourth day of the administration about communicating with Russians during the transition, when the Obama administration was technically still in charge of foreign affairs.
Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, who also was indicted, mentioned Pence in his interview with investigators.
