But they didn’t TELL him he shouldn’t lie
Yesterday’s late news was weird – Michael Flynn is complaining that the FBI agents who interviewed him didn’t tell him he shouldn’t lie to them.
Wut?
Did he think the FBI would be cool with it if he lied to them? Did he think they were interviewing him just for practice?
Lawyers for Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s first national security adviser, asked a federal judge late Tuesday to spare him prison time for misleading investigators, and they suggested that the F.B.I. agents who interviewed him last year at the White House had tricked him into lying.
…
But the lawyers offered no explanation for why Mr. Flynn lied to agents about conversations he had during the presidential transition in late 2016 with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak. And even in accepting blame, Mr. Flynn portrayed himself as a victim of F.B.I. tactics to trap him. His lawyers highlighted details from the interview that played into an unfounded theory that Mr. Flynn’s demeanor during questioning was potential evidence that he did not lie to investigators.
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Mr. Flynn’s lawyers singled out Andrew G. McCabe, the former F.B.I. deputy director, and Peter Strzok, a senior counterintelligence agent who interviewed Mr. Flynn. Both men were fired from the F.B.I. this year, and the president and his allies have attacked them as enemies bent on undermining Mr. Trump. They also have accused Mr. McCabe, Mr. Strzok and other former F.B.I. officials of unfairly targeting Mr. Flynn.
What, it’s unfair because he didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to lie to the FBI, and he didn’t know because the FBI agents who interviewed him didn’t tell him so? I’m just a civilian and an outsider, but I would think it’s the responsibility of people in jobs like that to know what the rules are. I would also think not lying to the FBI would be a natural default, even if they hadn’t memorized an actual rule spelling it out.
I like how Popehat put it:
I’m suprised they didn’t add George Soros, Emmanuel Goldstein and Snidely Whiplash to the list.
But then the Force can have a strong influence on the weak minded.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Td67kYY9mdQ
Sounds like Flynn might have expected the FBI to check that his shoelaces were properly tied as well. I mean, such an innocent omission on Flynn’s part could lead on to disaster for the whole nation.
Somehow.
Flynn is a retired General right? Doesn’t the US military place great store on Honour and Righteousness and all that stuff? Surely the default of such and Honourable Man as Flynn would be to tell the truth always.
Something is rotten in the State of Denmark…
Rob, so are they all, all honorable men. (Sorry, couldn’t resist a bit of the bard; today has a lot of poetic justice).
It’s my understanding that he didn’t realise he was being interviewed, as such. From what I’ve gathered, he was (deliberately) questioned in an informal setting, just “having a chat” as it were, precisely so that he wouldn’t raise his mental defences.
Couple of things – One I think Flynn had his fingers crossed during the interview.
2 – National security advisor – I’m guessing somewhere in their employement forms there is something about truthiness
Maybe he hung up his Honour and Righteousness along with his uniform. He’d certainly dispensed with it by the time he chose to work with Trump and mounted the podium at the Republican National Convention to lead the gathered co-conspirators in the chant of “LOCK HER UP!”
The tweet in which Popehat put it that way:
https://twitter.com/Popehat/status/1072681887238250496
I’m not a big crusader for the rights of criminal defendants, but it’s amazing how, throughout this whole process, conservatives have been discovering their outrage at stuff that they couldn’t be bothered to bat an eye about before.
Investigators tried to lull a non-custodial* suspect into a false sense of security instead of warning that they were in legal jeopardy and should get a fucking lawyer? SHOCKING! (*-If you’re not in custody, i.e., free to leave, then Miranda doesn’t apply. Cops like to be very vague on that point — they want you to think that you have to stay and answer their questions, but they don’t want to have to give you a Miranda warning.)
Investigators asked questions they already knew the answers to just to see if they could generate some “lying to investigators” charges? OUTRAGEOUS!
A search warrant was issued on a mere affidavit from a law enforcement official containing hearsay? UNBELIEVABLE!
Authorities show up in full force to execute a warrant and seize every document or computer in sight? JACKBOOTED THUGS!
The government seizes a defendant’s assets as fruits of criminal activity and ties them up in civil forfeiture, even if it impairs the defendant’s ability to fund his defense? IS THIS REALLY AMERICA?
Prosecutors threaten criminals with maximum penalties unless they flip on their co-conspirators? CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S LEGAL!
All of the above happens all the time and is perfectly legal? YEAH, BUT THIS TIME IT’S HAPPENING TO PEOPLE WHO MATTER. NOT, YOU KNOW, THUGS. THOSE PEOPLE. C’MON, DON’T MAKE ME SAY IT….
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Feds entrapped Cohen with WE ARE HAPPY TO SERVE YOU.
Screechy, you’re on fire at the moment…