The criminal case against Gen. Michael Flynn for lying to FBI agents was incredibly weak. At the time, I assumed that the charges against him were based on an audio tape or court reporter’s transcript of his interview. I wrote that the transcript should be made public so that we can all judge whether anything he said was actually untrue. While Flynn ultimately pled guilty to a single count of lying to a federal investigator, he has also said publicly that he pled to that single charge because the criminal investigation was rapidly bankrupting him.
In fact, there is no verbatim record of what Flynn said to the agents who interviewed him. Consistent with normal FBI practice, as I understand it, there is no recording or transcript. Rather, the agents who conducted the interrogation summarized what Flynn said in a form FD-302. Is this summary of what Flynn (or any other witness) said accurate? Who knows? Are nuances lost? Undoubtedly. Is much of what the witness said, that may have mitigated the claim that something he said was false, omitted? Of course.
In my opinion, the likelihood of getting a criminal conviction of General Flynn on the basis of a Form 302 was vanishingly small. If the government can’t prove what Flynn said–exactly–there is no way they can convict him of what amounts to perjury. So I find Flynn’s statement that he didn’t do anything wrong, but pled guilty to a single count to preserve what little net worth he has left, to be credible.
Did the FBI Frame Flynn?
In fact, there is no verbatim record of what Flynn said to the agents who interviewed him. Consistent with normal FBI practice, as I understand it, there is no recording or transcript. Rather, the agents who conducted the interrogation summarized what Flynn said in a form FD-302. Is this summary of what Flynn (or any other witness) said accurate? Who knows? Are nuances lost? Undoubtedly. Is much of what the witness said, that may have mitigated the claim that something he said was false, omitted? Of course.
In my opinion, the likelihood of getting a criminal conviction of General Flynn on the basis of a Form 302 was vanishingly small. If the government can’t prove what Flynn said–exactly–there is no way they can convict him of what amounts to perjury. So I find Flynn’s statement that he didn’t do anything wrong, but pled guilty to a single count to preserve what little net worth he has left, to be credible.
Did the FBI Frame Flynn?