Surge Summary: More and more it seems newly unearthed information is confirming the FBI, under former Director James Comey, was out to entrap former Trump National Secretary Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. Their actions have arguably devastated Flynn’s life; and stand as an affront to the way things are supposed to be carried out in the United States of America.
by Gary Bauer
[Wednesday] was a dark day for the FBI. Attorneys for Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn
released notes from a top FBI official which strongly indicate that the Bureau had no case against Flynn and was looking to entrap him.
The notes were written by Bill Priestap, the former chief of counterintelligence at the FBI, following a meeting with then-Director James Comey and then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Priestap wrote:
“What is our goal? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired? . . . If we get him to admit to breaking the Logan Act, give facts to [Department of Justice and] have them decide. If we’re seen as playing games, [White House] will be furious.”
Clearly, the FBI was “playing games.” As Sen. Lindsey Graham put it, the notes “reek of criminal misconduct.” The president has every right to be furious, and the American people should be too!
Last night, Trump tweeted, “What happened to General Michael Flynn, a war hero, should never be allowed to happen to a citizen of the United States again!”
Constitutional law professor
Jonathan Turley described the notes as “a chilling blueprint into how top FBI officials not only sought to entrap [Flynn], but sought to do so on blatantly unconstitutional, manufactured grounds.”
This wasn’t just a few rogue agents. It went straight to the top.
You may recall that fired FBI Director James Comey bragged in an interview with Nicolle Wallace that he took advantage of the chaos in the early days of the Trump White House. Comey said there was usually a procedure that had to be followed involving the White House Counsel’s office, and he knew the Trump White House wasn’t up to speed yet.
The FBI agents told Flynn he didn’t need a lawyer present at the interview, and later determined that he did not attempt to deliberately mislead them. Nevertheless, they prosecuted him.
So Comey succeeded in ruining Flynn’s life. We may never fully know the psychological impact on his family. But wait. . . It gets worse.
It is hard to believe that current FBI Director Christopher Wray or others at the Bureau were unaware of these notes. Yet they didn’t have the decency to expose them. Once again, it seems that the Bureau’s top brass put the FBI’s reputation ahead of the pursuit of justice. There is still a lot of swamp that needs draining.
Why The Focus On Flynn?
It’s no secret that Obama loyalists hated Michael Flynn. He was an outspoken opponent of Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran and his politically correct approach to radical Islam. The Deep State was determined to neutralize and punish him.
But I think it goes beyond Flynn. It is impossible to conclude that the reason for entrapping Flynn was anything other than an effort to cause the downfall of the new president. Let’s connect the dots:
- The FBI framed Flynn for a perfectly legitimate conversation with the Russian ambassador.
- That fed into the false narrative that “Russia stole the election.”
- When Trump rightly fired Comey, that led to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and a two-year inquisition that produced nothing.
- But the left bitterly clung to its false narrative of foreign influence, and used a leaked phone call with Ukraine’s president to launch another investigation, which culminated in this year’s impeachment trial.
While the media and the left are obsessed with Trump and Russia, we should be far more concerned about the meddling of the Deep State. We must not forget about the rampant abuse of the FISA court to illegally spy on American citizens.
And while the coronavirus has dominated the headlines lately, we’re still learning about what happened in 2016 (
here and
here), and the Durham investigation is still ongoing.
By the way, here’s what Attorney General William Barr said about Durham’s work during a recent interview:
“My own view is that the evidence shows that we’re not dealing with just mistakes or sloppiness. There is something far more troubling here. . . what happened to [President Trump] was one of the greatest travesties in American history.
“Without any basis [the FBI] started this investigation of his campaign, and even more concerning, actually is what happened after the campaign . . . to sabotage the presidency.”
The views here are those of the author and not necessarily Daily Surge.
Originally posted here.
Image: https://www.usa.gov/government-works; Adapted from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/secdef/7637530164;
Gary Lee Bauer is an American politician and activist, who served in the Reagan administration. He later became president of the Family Research Council and a senior vice president of Focus on the Family. In 2000, he participated in the Republican presidential contest.
Surge Summary: More and more it seems newly unearthed information is confirming the FBI, under former Director James Comey, was out to entrap former Trump National Secretary Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. Their actions have arguably devastated Flynn’s life; and stand as an affront to the way things are supposed to be carried out in the United States of America.
by Gary Bauer[Wednesday] was a dark day for the FBI. Attorneys for Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn released notes from a top FBI official which strongly indicate that the Bureau had no case against Flynn and was looking to entrap him.
The notes were written by Bill Priestap, the former chief of counterintelligence at the FBI, following a meeting with then-Director James Comey and then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Priestap wrote:
“What is our goal? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired? . . . If we get him to admit to breaking the Logan Act, give facts to [Department of Justice and] have them decide. If we’re seen as playing games, [White House] will be furious.”
Clearly, the FBI was “playing games.” As Sen. Lindsey Graham put it, the notes “reek of criminal misconduct.” The president has every right to be furious, and the American people should be too!
Last night, Trump tweeted, “What happened to General Michael Flynn, a war hero, should never be allowed to happen to a citizen of the United States again!”
Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley described the notes as “a chilling blueprint into how top FBI officials not only sought to entrap [Flynn], but sought to do so on blatantly unconstitutional, manufactured grounds.”This wasn’t just a few rogue agents. It went straight to the top.
You may recall that fired FBI Director James Comey bragged in an interview with Nicolle Wallace that he took advantage of the chaos in the early days of the Trump White House. Comey said there was usually a procedure that had to be followed involving the White House Counsel’s office, and he knew the Trump White House wasn’t up to speed yet.
The FBI agents told Flynn he didn’t need a lawyer present at the interview, and later determined that he did not attempt to deliberately mislead them. Nevertheless, they prosecuted him.
So Comey succeeded in ruining Flynn’s life. We may never fully know the psychological impact on his family. But wait. . . It gets worse.
It is hard to believe that current FBI Director Christopher Wray or others at the Bureau were unaware of these notes. Yet they didn’t have the decency to expose them. Once again, it seems that the Bureau’s top brass put the FBI’s reputation ahead of the pursuit of justice. There is still a lot of swamp that needs draining.Why The Focus On Flynn?
It’s no secret that Obama loyalists hated Michael Flynn. He was an outspoken opponent of Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran and his politically correct approach to radical Islam. The Deep State was determined to neutralize and punish him.
But I think it goes beyond Flynn. It is impossible to conclude that the reason for entrapping Flynn was anything other than an effort to cause the downfall of the new president. Let’s connect the dots:
While the media and the left are obsessed with Trump and Russia, we should be far more concerned about the meddling of the Deep State. We must not forget about the rampant abuse of the FISA court to illegally spy on American citizens.
And while the coronavirus has dominated the headlines lately, we’re still learning about what happened in 2016 (here and here), and the Durham investigation is still ongoing.By the way, here’s what Attorney General William Barr said about Durham’s work during a recent interview:
“My own view is that the evidence shows that we’re not dealing with just mistakes or sloppiness. There is something far more troubling here. . . what happened to [President Trump] was one of the greatest travesties in American history.
“Without any basis [the FBI] started this investigation of his campaign, and even more concerning, actually is what happened after the campaign . . . to sabotage the presidency.”
The views here are those of the author and not necessarily Daily Surge.
Originally posted here.Image: https://www.usa.gov/government-works; Adapted from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/secdef/7637530164;
Gary Lee Bauer is an American politician and activist, who served in the Reagan administration. He later became president of the Family Research Council and a senior vice president of Focus on the Family. In 2000, he participated in the Republican presidential contest.
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