Released transcript of Flynn call with Russian diplomat reveals ‘Logan Act’ was a ruse

Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE.


On Friday, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified the transcript of exonerated former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s infamous 2016 call with then-then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and as expected, the findings were a stunning indictment of those responsible for Flynn’s prosecution and persecution.

The transcript proved without a shadow of a doubt that Obama-era administration officials had no legitimate reason to suspect Flynn of violating the Logan Act when they maliciously tricked him into sitting with them for an interview in early 2017.

View the full transcript below:

The debunked theory was that Flynn had promised Kislyak that then-incoming President Donald Trump would undo then-President Barack Obama’s sanctions the moment he stepped into office. But this never happened.

The transcript shows that Flynn simply urged Kislyak to tell Russian President Vladimir Putin to not retaliate harshly to the then-president’s sanctions.

“What I would ask Russia to do is to not … to only make it reciprocal. Make it reciprocal. Don’t go any further than you have to. Because I don’t want us to get into something that has to escalate on a tit for tat,” he said.

Kislyak responded by saying that while he understood Trump’s concerns, anger was brewing in Moscow over Obama’s sanctions.

Flynn replied by saying that while he appreciated the sentiment in Moscow, Trump was worried that harsh retaliation from Putin would spur even harsher counter-retaliation from Obama, thus entering the United States into another Cold War-like cycle — one that the then-incoming-president preferred to avoid.

“I really don’t want us to get into a situation where we’re going, you know, where we do this and then you do something bigger, and then you know, everybody’s got to go back and forth and everybody’s got to be the tough guy here, you know?” he said.

“We don’t need to, we don’t need that right now, we need to—we need cool heads to prevail, and uh, and we need to be very steady about what we’re going to do because we have absolutely a common uh, threat, in the Middle East right now.”

As noted in angry tweets posted late Friday by Flynn’s attorney, Sidney Powell, nothing he’d said to Kislyak was a violation of the Logan Act, meaning there was no legitimate reason for the FBI to interview him.

And if there was no legitimate reason for the FBI to interview him, then the already dubious accusation that Flynn lied during the interview is void. And thus his prosecution by former special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is also void.

Look at her tweets below:

Of course, the Trump Justice Department already knew this, and so earlier this month Attorney General Bill Barr ordered that the entire case be dropped.

Instead of complying, however, rogue U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan bucked the DOJ’s authority by opening Flynn’s case up for outside comment, appointing a Clinton-era judge to argue against the DOJ and further directing that judge to look into whether Flynn should face additional charges for perjury.

What remains unknown is whether Friday’s findings are enough to end this fiasco once and for all. As it stands, Sullivan has until Sunday to submit a letter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Distinct of Columbia explaining the reasons behind his bizarre actions.

Moreover, the DOJ isn’t alone in pushing for the dropping of Flynn’s case.

“A group of 28 former federal prosecutors and judges filed an amicus brief in the ongoing Michael Flynn criminal case on Thursday, arguing that U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan exceeded his authority by refusing to immediately grant the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the prosecution,” Law & Crime reported Friday.

More notable still is that the coalition is being led by two powerhouse attorneys — former independent counsel Kenneth Starr and former Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy.

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.
Vivek Saxena

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Latest Articles