The federal agents who interviewed former national security adviser Michael Flynn during the early days of the Russia investigation knew they might catch him lying about his contacts with the Russian ambassador, according to newly unsealed documents in his criminal case.
U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in Washington on Wednesday made public several pages of FBI emails and handwritten notes about the January 2017 interview with Flynn, who withdrew his guilty plea for lying to the agents and has asked to have the case dismissed.
President Donald Trump has claimed that Flynn was set up and has slammed the FBI agents who conducted the interview. The Justice Department has defended the bureau's handling of the case and rejected Flynn's claim of "egregious government misconduct."
The handwritten notes spell out that the agents' goal was to "determine if Mike Flynn is going to tell the truth," while indicating that the FBI had evidence to show Flynn on the spot to prove he was lying, according to the filing. But a note also posed a question about another possible outcome from the interview: "get him to lie so we can prosecute him or get him fired?"
It's also suggested in the note that the agents were concerned about angering the Trump administration at a time when the president was lashing out at the intelligence community for indicating that Russia had meddled in the election to help him win. "If we're seen as playing games, WH will be furious," the note says.
The exact context of the notes isn't clear, and some parts remain redacted, including the nature of the evidence that the agents indicated they could present to the three-time Bronze Star recipient during the interview.
"The government's misconduct in this case is beyond shocking and reprehensible," Flynn's lawyer, Sidney Powell, said in a filing Friday about the notes that were subsequently unsealed. "These documents show in their own handwriting and emails that they intended either to create an offense they could prosecute or at least get him fired."
Neither the Justice Department nor Powell immediately responded to requests for comment.
