The Justice Department announced Thursday that it was dropping the criminal case against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, abandoning a case that had become a symbol for President Trump and his supporters in criticizing the FBI’s Russia investigation.
A Major Reversal By DOJ
This move is a major reversal considering it was one of the primary cases to emerge from the investigation pursued by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Dear Libs,
You think you're bent now over Barr's DOJ dropping the Flynn charges, just wait till Durham indicts Brennan, Comey, Strzock and Page. Not even Hillary and Obama are safe.
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) May 7, 2020
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For three years, prosecutors insisted that Flynn had lied to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador in a January 2017 interview. Flynn basically admitted he had, and became a key cooperator for Mueller in looking into ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.
The Justice Department said Thursday that it is dropping the case “after a considered review of all the facts and circumstances of this case, including newly discovered and disclosed information.”
Feel free to invite Bill Barr over to explain. He’ll eat your lunch for you. Again. https://t.co/OD400NOUkj
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 7, 2020
The Associated Press noted in their exclusive report, “The Justice Department said it had concluded that Flynn’s interview by the FBI was ‘untethered to, and unjustified by, the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into Mr. Flynn’ and that the interview on January 24, 2017 was ‘conducted without any legitimate investigative basis.”
“The U.S. attorney reviewing the Flynn case, Jeff Jensen, recommended the move to Attorney General William Barr last week and formalized the recommendation in a document this week,” AP reported.
As usual, liberal pundits crying about big bad Bill Barr instead of grappling with how shockingly baseless the entire FBI Russia investigation was
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) May 7, 2020
Jensen said in a statement, “Through the course of my review of General Flynn’s case, I concluded the proper and just course was to dismiss the case. I briefed Attorney General Barr on my findings, advised him on these conclusions, and he agreed.”
A Major Win for Trump and His Supporters
This decision will no doubt make President Trump and his supporters happy. Trump has relentlessly tweeted about Flynn and last week said that he was glad the former national security adviser was “exonerated.”
BREAKING: President Trump says he would be open to bringing General Flynn back to his administration
"It looks to me like Michael Flynn will be exonerated.” pic.twitter.com/lOcrrngMC2
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 30, 2020
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“The decision comes as Barr has increasingly challenged the Russia investigation, saying in a television interview last month that it was started ‘without any basis,” the AP noted. “In February, he overruled a decision by prosecutors in the Roger Stone case in favor of a more lenient recommended sentence for the longtime Trump friend.”