Renato MariottiVerified account
@renato_mariotti
THREAD: What does today’s @NBCNews report about Flynn’s FBI interview tell us about Mueller’s obstruction investigation? (Short answer: Quite a bit.)
1/ Today @NBCNews reported that Flynn initially hid news of his FBI interview from Trump and the White House. That’s interesting, but what’s more interesting to me are many other tidbits of information contained in this piece.
2/ The piece details the status of Mueller’s obstruction investigation:
By the end of 2017, special counsel Robert Mueller’s team had spoken with Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Mike Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, former FBI Director James Comey, and numerous members of Trump’s campaign and White House inner circle. Flynn pleaded guilty last month to lying to the FBI during his January 24 interview and is cooperating with the Russia investigation.
3/ The fact that Mueller spoke to the Director of National Intelligence and National Security Agency is interesting, but unsurprising given reports that Trump pushed them to lean on Comey to end the Flynn investigation.
4/ If true, it shows a pattern of behavior by Trump that supports Comey’s account that Trump pushed him to end the Flynn investigation. The @NBCNews piece notes that Mueller also interviewed Mike Pompeo, the head of the CIA, who Trump also allegedly pushed to help Flynn.
5/ As @NBCNews noted, Mueller will interview Bannon by the end of the month and is seeking to interview Trump. This tells us that Mueller is close to wrapping up his obstruction investigation, given that he’s preparing to interview the key witnesses.
6/ The @NBCNews report discussed how the Flynn interview took place:
A brief phone call from the office of Andrew McCabe, the deputy FBI director, to a scheduler for Flynn on January 24 set the interview in motion, according to people familiar with the matter. The scheduler was told the FBI wanted to speak with Flynn later that day, these people said, and the meeting was placed on Flynn’s schedule. The scheduler didn't ask the reason for the meeting, and the FBI didn't volunteer it, one person familiar with the matter said.
7/ That is textbook work by the FBI. Whenever possible, the FBI tries to interview subjects when they don’t have time to prepare for the interview in advance and aren’t aware that they’re in jeopardy, so they don’t have time to hire a lawyer and prepare answers.
8/ In this case, it worked. Flynn didn’t hire a lawyer or bring along a lawyer for the NSA who might have realized that Flynn was under investigation:
Later that day, two FBI agents arrived at the White House to speak with Flynn. A lawyer for the National Security Council typically would be informed of such a meeting and be present for it, one person familiar with the procedures said. But that didn't happen in this instance, and Flynn didn't include his own personal lawyer, two people said. He met with the two federal agents alone, according to these people.
9/ As one White House official put it, Flynn didn’t realize he was the subject of the interview, which is why he didn’t bring a lawyer. That’s exactly what the FBI hoped for—a lawyer wouldn’t have let an interview go forward that day.
"Apparently it was not clear to Flynn that this was about his personal conduct," another White House official said. "So he didn't think of bringing his own lawyer."
10/ According to @NBCNews, the White House didn’t learn about the interview until two days later. That’s helpful to Trump because it suggests that Flynn didn’t rush to warn him—he wanted to keep his potential exposure a secret.
11/ That said, it’s worth noting that FBI Deputy Director McCabe is the one who set up the Flynn interview. Since then, Trump asked him who he voted for and openly attacked him as partisan. Could Trump blame him due to his role in setting up the Flynn interview?
12/ Another interesting point is that allegedly White House Counsel Don McGahn didn’t ask Flynn if he lied to the FBI, and didn’t conclude Flynn lied until after he was fired:
McGahn did not later ask Flynn if he lied to the FBI, one person familiar with the matter said. This person said it was unclear if Flynn intended to lie and that McGahn did not conclude that Flynn had lied to the FBI until after he had been fired. It was at that time in late winter or early spring that the White House received a request from the FBI for phone records and other documents related to Flynn that McGahn and other top officials concluded he had lied in his interview and was otherwise under investigation, this person said.
13/ That contradicts a December 2nd tweet by Trump in which he said he knew Flynn lied when he fired him:
Donald J. TrumpVerified account
@realDonaldTrump
I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!
14/ This should be a key focus for Mueller, because lying to the FBI is a crime. One very important question Mueller needs to answer is: When did Trump learn that Flynn lied to the FBI?
14/ If Trump knew Flynn lied to the FBI before he asked Comey to drop the Flynn investigation, that would be a significant problem for Trump because it would undercut any argument he could make that he thought there was no merit to the Flynn investigation. /end