Circa journalist Sara Carter reported Friday that former Trump advisor Michael Flynn was asked by the president’s son-in-law to contact Russia, but Fox News’ John Roberts says that his sources named U.S. Ambassador K.T. McFarland as the person who directed Flynn to contact Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.
“Told by a source with direct knowledge the very ‘Senior official’ in administration is allegedly Jared Kushner who asked Michael Flynn to contact Russia,” she tweeted.
Told by a source with direct knowledge the very “Senior official” in administration is allegedly Jared Kushner who asked Michael Flynn to contact Russia
— Sara A. Carter (@SaraCarterDC) December 1, 2017
Just 20 minutes later, Fox News White House Correspondent John Roberts reported that K.T. McFarland was the campaign official that told Flynn what to say to Kislyak.
The reports came just hours after Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI.
“My guilty plea and agreement to cooperate with the Special Counsel’s Office reflect a decision I made in the best interests of my family and of our country,” Flynn said after his plea hearing Friday. “I accept full responsibility for my actions.”
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office said that Flynn’s false statements materially impacted their investigation.
“Flynn’s false statements and omissions impeded and otherwise had a material impact on the FBI’s ongoing investigation into the existence of any links or coordination between individuals associated with the Campaign and Russia’s effort to interfere with the 2016 presidential election,” they said in a court filing.
“The false statements involved mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in his resignation in February of this year,” Trump attorney Ty Cobb said in a statement. “Nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn.”
Neither contacting Russian officials nor Kushner’s ordering of such actions are illegal and the action against Flynn is likely just Mueller’s play to get to others in Trump’s inner circle.
Mueller’s 10-month long investigation has so far found no proof of illegality during the 2016 election and has only resulted in two guilty pleas by former Trump associates for lying to the F.B.I.
Michael Flynn’s Guilty Plea – Full Text
366037979-Flynn-Mueller
To add some detail, Judge Napolitano on Fox made some interesting observations.
“On “Shepard Smith Reporting,” Napolitano explained that investigators will use Flynn to get information and possibly bring indictments against other Trump officials, including the president himself.
“If Robert Mueller has enough evidence – credible evidence – with which to charge the president of the United States with a crime, the constitutional crisis will come as he decides what to do,” Napolitano said.
He explained that if Mueller has sufficient evidence, he will have to decide if he will indict the president or turn the evidence over to the House of Representatives.
“This has not happened and we don’t know where it would go, if a sitting president is indicted,” Napolitano said.
Napolitano noted that if Trump himself directed Flynn to make contact with Russians, a significant factor would be when it happened.
“If this occurred while Donald Trump was a candidate and the purpose of communicating with the Russians was to facilitate, encourage or justify their interference with the American political process, then you have a very serious criminal offense, which would probably constitute an impeachable offense,” Napolitano said.
He added that if it occurred after Trump won the election, then it would still be an offense, although possibly not an impeachable one.
“Beyond this, the president of the United States has steadfastly, repeatedly and consistently denied that he had any knowledge of any involvement with the Russians. If Gen. Flynn contradicts that in a credible way under oath, we have a very serious problem on our hands,” Napolitano said.”
I DON’T Trust Judge Napolitano anymore. He can’t stand Trump so why would I believe anything he says and stirs up in his head.
It was after the election, and a normal part of the transition process. No clue why he lied about it.
Obama State department had no issue with the transition team reaching out to any foreign government:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vO3GNexHYI&t=27m32s