GOP lawmakers on Thursday rushed to former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s defense after new documents unsealed in his criminal case showed FBI agents…
GOP lawmakers on Thursday rushed to former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s defense after new documents unsealed in his criminal case showed FBI agents discussing how to approach his interview.
Republicans seized on documents released late Wednesday that showed FBI agents planning Flynn’s interview, including one asking whether it was their goal to “get him to lie,” as another opportunity to decry the FBI’s handling of his case.
Rep. Devin Nunes (Calif.), the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted that it was “clear now that General Flynn was set up by dirty cops at the highest levels of our government.”
Some Republicans even went on to endorse the idea that Flynn should be pardoned. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said that the new documents showed “egregious and unacceptable behavior,” adding that “I believe @realDonaldTrump should pardon Gen. Flynn.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) endorsed Paul’s position, tweeting “Rand correct again.”
President Trump, who has not ruled out a pardon for Flynn, also railed against the FBI on Thursday.
“They came at him with 15 buses, and he’s standing in the middle of a highway. What they did to this man, they tormented him. They destroyed him. But he’s going to come back. Like I say, he’s going to come back bigger and better,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, after tweeting multiple times Thursday morning in support of Flynn.
Trump added that Flynn “is in the process of being exonerated. If you look at those notes from yesterday, that was total exoneration.”
In the notes, an unidentified FBI agent asks “what’s our goal?”
“Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?” the note reads. “If we get him to admit to breaking the Logan Act, give facts to DOJ & have them decide. Or, if he initially lies, then we present him [redacted] & he admits it, document for DOJ, & let them decide how to address it.”
“If we’re seen as playing games, WH will be furious,” the note reads.
