Over the years, I have learned a couple of things, some of them very important, some not so much. I’ve learned from both experience and observation. One of the more important things I learned that prosecutors very rarely ask a witness a question they don’t already have the answer. It’s pretty much the same with the FBI. They ask questions of persons they are investigating only if they already know the answer.
Rule #!: Never lie to the FBI.
Rule #2: If in doubt, revert to rule #1
This is where Michael Flynn really screwed up, bigly.
Former national security adviser Michael Flynn denied to FBI agents in an interview last month that he had discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country’s ambassador to the United States before President Trump took office, contradicting the contents of intercepted communications collected by intelligence agencies, current and former U.S. officials said.
The Jan. 24 interview potentially puts Flynn in legal jeopardy, as lying to the FBI is a felony, but any decision to prosecute would ultimately lie with the Justice Department. Some officials said bringing a case could prove difficult in part because Flynn may attempt to parse the definition of sanctions.
A spokesman for Flynn said he had no response. The FBI declined to comment.
A couple of points here, as noted by the inimitable Charles Pierce:
Any investigation of this matter will put new Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III in a tough spot. He and Flynn were the very first Republicans of any stature to climb on board the train. And, of course, in the ordinary course of events, the investigation would be handed over to the FBI which is still run by super-patriot James Comey, who might also face congressional questions as to what did he know, when did he know it, and why he didn’t write a public letter to Congress about it 11 days before the election?
Now, it is possible that Trumplethinskin could just pardon Flynn but that wold deepen T*rump’s problem of the question about what he new and when he knew it. Exonerating Flynn leave him without his 5th Amendment rights and he could be forced to reveal to investigators all he knows about T*rump’s involvement with the Russia’s influence into the election. It was the prime reason George W. Bush only commuted Scooter Libby’s conviction in the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
In today’s unhinged press conference, T*rump was channeling Pres. Richard M. Nixon in 1973 as he scrambled to keep from being impeached for the Watergate scandal.
This could get very interesting.
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