Now MUELLER’S under the microscope: Judge sentencing ex-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn orders special counsel to hand over all interview documents after General claimed FBI pressured him NOT to take a lawyer
Michael Flynn is a former National Security Adviser to President Donald Trump
Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations with Russia’s then-ambassador to the United States during the presidential transition
His lawyers allege FBI bosses pressured him into seeking no counsel before or during the January 2017 interview which ultimately led to his guilty plea
The judge responsible for his sentencing has demanded both sides turn over documents that might corroborate their accounts
By MIRANDA ALDERSLEY
DAILYMAIL.COM
13 December 2018
A U.S. District Judge has demanded that Special Counsel Robert Mueller turn over all the secret documents related to the questioning of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Flynn alleged in a court filling on Tuesday that the FBI pushed him toward having no lawyer present for his January 2017 interview. Flynn he later admitted lying to federal authorities investigating possible Russian interference in the 2016 election during the conversation.
Flynn’s attorneys point the finger at then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe – claiming he pushed Flynn not to have an attorney present for the questioning.
They even go as far as to say the FBI threatened to take the matter to the Justice Department if Flynn were to seek counsel before sitting down with its agents.
‘I explained that I thought the quickest way to get this done was to have a conversation between [Flynn] and the agents only,’ McCabe wrote in a memorandum reported by Fox News.
‘I further stated that if LTG Flynn wished to include anyone else in the meeting, like the White House Counsel for instance, that I would need to involve the Department of Justice. [General Flynn] stated that this would not be necessary and agreed to meet with the agents without any additional participants.’
Following the allegations, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan yesterday ordered that both the Mueller investigation and the Flynn team turn over all documents relating to the fateful interview, including all contemporaneous notes, before 3pm Friday.
The FBI was not obliged to make clear to Flynn that he had the right of attorney, because he was not in custody.
However, Sullivan will be trying to determine whether or not agents used coercion to obstruct Flynn’s constitutional right.
Theoretically, if provided with convincing evidence that agents acted coercively, Sullivan could throw out the charges against Flynn on those grounds. However, he has no indicated that he plans to do so, according to Fox News.
Trump’s former National Security Adviser is due to be sentenced on Tuesday, but Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office, last week said that Flynn’s cooperation – including 19 meetings with investigators – was so extensive that he was entitled to avoid prison when he is sentenced next week.
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