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FBI recommended Michael Flynn not have lawyer present during interview, did not warn of false...

bubbabgone

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Memo: FBI recommended Michael Flynn not have lawyer present during interview, did not warn of false statement consequences

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who arranged the bureau's interview with then-national security adviser Michael Flynn at the White House on Jan. 24, 2017 — the interview that ultimately led to Flynn's guilty plea on one count of making false statements — suggested Flynn not have a lawyer present at the session, according to newly-filed court documents. In addition, FBI officials, along with the two agents who interviewed Flynn, decided specifically not to warn him that there would be penalties for making false statements because the agents wanted to ensure that Flynn was "relaxed" during the session.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...-did-not-warn-of-false-statement-consequences
It doesn't get any better, folks.
McCabe, by his own account, urged Flynn to talk to the agents alone, without a lawyer present. "I explained that I thought the quickest way to get this done was to have a conversation between [Flynn] and the agents only," McCabe wrote. "I further stated that if LTG Flynn wished to include anyone else in the meeting, like the White House counsel for instance, that I would need to involve the Department of Justice. [Flynn] stated that this would not be necessary and agreed to meet with the agents without any additional participants."
"The agents did not provide Gen. Flynn with a warning of the penalties for making a false statement under 18 U.S.C. 1001 before, during, or after the interview," the Flynn memo says. According to the 302, before the interview, McCabe and other FBI officials "decided the agents would not warn Flynn that it was a crime to lie during an FBI interview because they wanted Flynn to be relaxed, and they were concerned that giving the warnings might adversely affect the rapport."

It's based on the sentencing memo submitted by Flynn's attorney and McCabe's statements.
Sure seems like a WTF !?!?!, doesn't it?
 
While we should not condone the setup, I find it remarkable that a Former Deputy Director of the FBI was not aware of any of this.
 
Memo: FBI recommended Michael Flynn not have lawyer present during interview, did not warn of false statement consequences
It doesn't get any better, folks.It's based on the sentencing memo submitted by Flynn's attorney and McCabe's statements.Sure seems like a WTF !?!?!, doesn't it?

It doesn't seem like a "WTF", it's part of their 150+ pages begging the judge for zero prison sentence, for the National Security Advisor, who knowingly lied to FBI investigators.

- There is no requirement that FBI officials declare that.

What you're seeing is Flynn's attorney's using the Republicans attempt to undermine the investigation by attacking McCabe and Peter, etc., to help try and convince the judge that the FBI agents were "tainted" in some way, and therefore should be lenient.

Depending on the judge, that may piss him off, because it's materially irrelevant, and the fact is a former General, and the National Security Advisor to the president, of anyone...should know better than to impede an ongoing federal investigation that involves, of all things, National Security.

Flynn's cooperation with Mueller, is his saving grace. Maybe he spent 60+ hours just clearing everynoe's name, it's all a big misunderstanding, right?
 
Memo: FBI recommended Michael Flynn not have lawyer present during interview, did not warn of false statement consequences
It doesn't get any better, folks.
It's based on the sentencing memo submitted by Flynn's attorney and McCabe's statements.
Sure seems like a WTF !?!?!, doesn't it?

Flynn was general with 20 yrs experience in the military including intelligence operations.

Am I supposed to feel that he was a babe in the woods with no idea that lying to LEOs was a bad idea?

Am I supposed to think that if only he had been warned that lying to LEO was a bad idea he would have said something different?
 
While we should not condone the setup, I find it remarkable that a Former Deputy Director of the FBI was not aware of any of this.
Who said McCabe wasn't aware of it?
 
Also from the memo ...
General Flynn’s case differs from that of Alexander Van der Zwaan, who pled guilty to
lying to the Special Counsel and failing to produce requested documents. Unlike General Flynn,
Mr. Van der Zwaan is a trained attorney who was represented by counsel during the interview;
he was interviewed at a time when there was a publicly disclosed, full-bore investigation
regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election; and he was given a warning that it is a
federal crime to lie during the interview.31

General Flynn’s case also differs from that of George Papadopoulos, who pled guilty to
making false statements regarding his communications with Russians and Russian
intermediaries. Mr. Papadopoulos was specifically notified of the seriousness of the
investigation, and “was told that he may have important information to provide.”32 He was
warned that lying to investigators was a “federal offense” that could get him “in trouble.”33 Mr.
Papadopoulos’s interview was “not a hurried” encounter, and he had time to reflect on his
answers as he traveled from his home to the FBI office in Chicago to continue the interview.
 
Memo: FBI recommended Michael Flynn not have lawyer present during interview, did not warn of false statement consequences


It doesn't get any better, folks.



It's based on the sentencing memo submitted by Flynn's attorney and McCabe's statements.
Sure seems like a WTF !?!?!, doesn't it?

The only WTF here is that a former National Security Advisor and director of the DIA doesn't know he might need a lawyer when speaking to the FBI and that he shouldn't lie to them.

That's a whole suitcase full of 'herpity derpity'.

It doesn't get any more pathetic, folks.
 
I find it remarkable that one needs a lawyer present to know to not lie to the FBI.

But what do I know, it's not like I'm the National Security Advisor or anything...
 
Memo: FBI recommended Michael Flynn not have lawyer present during interview, did not warn of false statement consequences


It doesn't get any better, folks.



It's based on the sentencing memo submitted by Flynn's attorney and McCabe's statements.
Sure seems like a WTF !?!?!, doesn't it?

We'll know more if/when Trump releases the FBI agent's 302's on the interview.
 
Flynn discloses to the Trump campaign that he's under FBI investigation - January 4th
Flynn chooses to lie to the FBI about his Russian contacts - January 24th

Flynn knew he was under investigation already, and so did the Trump administration.
 
Does anyone know if Trump's team and declared in public that Flynn didn't discussion sanctions before January 24, 2017?
 
Flynn discloses to the Trump campaign that he's under FBI investigation - January 4th
Flynn chooses to lie to the FBI about his Russian contacts - January 24th

Flynn knew he was under investigation already, and so did the Trump administration.
But, again, does it really matter? A 5 year old knows you shouldn't lie to the police.
 
But, again, does it really matter? A 5 year old knows you shouldn't lie to the police.
Not even the 5 year old's knowing matters.
Whether you know it's a crime is irrelevant to the crime of making material false statements to certain people.

I also found this interesting, that if anyone on team-Trump coached anyone to make false false statements before they gave testimony to Congress , that's apparently also illegal. Since a number of other people testifying before congress were reported to have made false statements similar to the ones that Cohen was indicted for, leads one to believe not only that they may be exposed to making false statements, but that it also may have been part of a criminal conspiracy, and that if that coordination was directed by someone else, that other person may have also committed a crime.
Now, Cohen seems to have indicated he lied to try and defend what Trump was saying publicly, but can they all say the same?

I just find all this stuff interesting, and I'd never read it if it were not for current events + ongoing discussion to lure me into reading it.
 
Flynn was general with 20 yrs experience in the military including intelligence operations.

Am I supposed to feel that he was a babe in the woods with no idea that lying to LEOs was a bad idea?

Am I supposed to think that if only he had been warned that lying to LEO was a bad idea he would have said something different?

No. You're supposed to hate Flynn because he involved himself with Trump.
HOWEVER, regarding your comments, at least 2 things stand out in this memo.
Flynn was approached by the FBI differently than others. #6
And ... this may be part of an answer to your skepticism ... from the memo, the mindset created by his experience may have actually led to his undoing ...
"... General Flynn had for many years been
accustomed to working in cooperation with the FBI on matters of national security. He and Mr.
McCabe briefly discussed a security training session the FBI had recently conducted at the White
House
before Mr. McCabe, by his own account, stated that he “felt that we needed to have two
of our agents sit down” with General Flynn to talk about his communications with Russian
representatives.21
Mr. McCabe’s account states: “I explained that I thought the quickest way to get this
done was to have a conversation between [General Flynn] and the agents only. I further stated
that if LTG Flynn wished to include anyone else in the meeting, like the White House Counsel
for instance, that I would need to involve the Department of Justice. [General Flynn] stated that
this would not be necessary and agreed to meet with the agents without any additional
participants.”22..."

In other words, by the absence of the usual approach a witness might expect from McCabe and the FBI, and by the friendly chat about unrelated matters, it may have appeared less like an interrogation and more like a request for his expertise.

After a few days on the job he was asked about his calls with Kislyak during the transition period.
The calls were recorded by the FBI but they didn't tell Flynn.
Pity it came to this, there has been nothing untoward claimed about the calls.
 
No. You're supposed to hate Flynn because he involved himself with Trump.
HOWEVER, regarding your comments, at least 2 things stand out in this memo.
Flynn was approached by the FBI differently than others. #6
And ... this may be part of an answer to your skepticism ... from the memo, the mindset created by his experience may have actually led to his undoing ...
"... General Flynn had for many years been
accustomed to working in cooperation with the FBI on matters of national security. He and Mr.
McCabe briefly discussed a security training session the FBI had recently conducted at the White
House before Mr. McCabe, by his own account, stated that he “felt that we needed to have two
of our agents sit down” with General Flynn to talk about his communications with Russian
representatives.21
Mr. McCabe’s account states: “I explained that I thought the quickest way to get this
done was to have a conversation between [General Flynn] and the agents only. I further stated
that if LTG Flynn wished to include anyone else in the meeting, like the White House Counsel
for instance, that I would need to involve the Department of Justice. [General Flynn] stated that
this would not be necessary and agreed to meet with the agents without any additional
participants
.”22..."

In other words, by the absence of the usual approach a witness might expect from McCabe and the FBI, and by the friendly chat about unrelated matters, it may have appeared less like an interrogation and more like a request for his expertise.

After a few days on the job he was asked about his calls with Kislyak during the transition period.
The calls were recorded by the FBI but they didn't tell Flynn.
Pity it came to this, there has been nothing untoward claimed about the calls.

So, regarding the bold...you've read that McCabe gave Flynn the chance to have legal counsel present and Flynn refused. So...what's the point of this thread again?

Also, McCabe clearly told him they were going to be talking about Flynn's Russian communications, plus Flynn obviously knew there was already an investigation ongoing.

So...again...what's the point of this thread again? That the FBI didn't tell the suspect they were interviewing that they knew he was lying as he was lying?
 
Hate to drag everybody back to ancient history, but have we figured out why Flynn lied in the first place?
 
Hate to drag everybody back to ancient history, but have we figured out why Flynn lied in the first place?
I would guess that Flynn was feeling out the FBI to see if they were investigating not just Russian interference in the election, but whether or not they were also investigating if the Trump campaign was in on any of it, and tried throw them off with some cheap lies.

Clearly, he tried to hustle them and it didn't work.
 
Hate to drag everybody back to ancient history, but have we figured out why Flynn lied in the first place?
It's a good question, I've looked and couldn't really find much on this either.

So far to me it looks like he lied because he figured he could, and he liked the story it presented better than what really occurred.
I just read an article that included people questioned around Flynn at the time of all that. The implication was that he had no idea that call was recorded, and when that story broke, his faced showed it.

The question is, did he lie to Team-Trump first, or did they all agree to lie, made those public statements, and then Flynn felt compelled to hold to that narrative, figuring they had no proof either way.
Because if they all agreed they wanted to lie just because it looked better for the administration, that would likely be why he lied...to stick with their story. He was confident they couldn't prove it.
If Flynn lied to team-Trump though, that could be a slightly different reason. Maybe he was doing a little of protection of the campaign image, and also protecting himself. He just got a dream job, he naturally isn't going to want to risk pissing off Team Trump, or admitting to something that may jeopardize it.
 
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