For months, opponents of Robert Mueller’s “special investigation” into Team Trump and Russia predicted that Mueller might try to take down President Trump with something that might not be related to “collusion.” A new report claims those predictions were correct.
According to The Hill, Mueller is pressuring Flynn to answer whether Trump directed him to lie to FBI officials about Flynn’s (legal and appropriate) post-election calls with Russian Ambassador Kislyak:
Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating why it took Flynn 18 days to resign after the president was briefed on Yates’s caution to McGahn, the report said.
Two individuals confirmed to NBC News that the investigation appears to be focused on President Trump potentially obstructing justice during that timeline.
Sources told NBC News that it looks like Mueller wants to know if Trump directed Flynn to lie to officials.
Flynn pled guilty earlier this month to lying to the FBI about those legal phone calls. Notably, the FBI had earlier judged Flynn’s statements as simply being incorrect recollections of what he had discussed. Only later did Mueller pressure Flynn with prosecution about lying during his FBI interview. Also notable — as the FBI already possessed the transcript of Flynn’s talks with Kislyak and thus knew they were legal — is that we don’t yet know why the FBI bothered to ask Flynn about them at all.
Flynn agreed to a deal with Mueller that reportedly included a less severe punishment for him, and an agreement that his son Mike Flynn Jr. would be left alone.
What did Mueller want from Flynn in return? Information on an even bigger target, which apparently is the president himself on an issue that has nothing to do with “colluding” with Russia.
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