Bill Barr Blasts FBI 'Perjury Trap' of Flynn, Hints More Coming on the 'Whole Pattern of Conduct'

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
AP featured image
Attorney General William Barr appears before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee to make his Justice Department budget request, Wednesday, April 10, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Advertisement

You have to hand it to Attorney General Bill Barr. He’s fearless.

With the decision by the DOJ to drop the charges against Gen. Michael Flynn, he knew that he would again be attacked and vilified by the left, but he is focused on doing the right thing and isn’t allowing the flak to dissuade him.

He gave an interview to another professional, Catherine Herridge at CBS, to talk about the Flynn decision and hinted that there might be more to come.

Barr said he came back to the job that he held previously because he wanted to ensure that one standard of justice was restored for all.

From CBS

Well, as I said in my confirmation hearing, one of the reasons I came back is because I was concerned that people were feeling there were two standards of justice in this country. And that the political and that the justice, or the law enforcement process was being used to play political games. And I wanted to make sure that we restore confidence in the system. There’s only one standard of justice. And I believe that this case, that justice in this case requires dismissing the charges against General Flynn.

He said that he was not doing the President’s bidding but “doing the law’s bidding” and had not spoken with the President about the decision.

Advertisement

Barr explained that the call with the Russian ambassador was perfectly normal, that as the incoming National Security Advisor, it’s something that would be done and that the FBI knew there was nothing improper in the call because they had a transcript of the call. So the only reason to try to investigate the call would be to set a “perjury trap.”

I think a very important evidence here was that this was not a bona fide counterintelligence investigation – was that they were closing the investigation in December. They started that process. And on January 4th, they were closing it.

And that when they heard about the phone call, which is – the FBI had the transcripts too – there’s no question as to what was discussed. The FBI knew exactly what was discussed. And General Flynn, being the former director of the DIA, said to them, you know, “You listen, you listen to everything. You know, you know what was said.”

So there was no mystery about the call. But they initially tried some theories of how they could open another investigation, which didn’t fly. And then they found out that they had not technically closed the earlier investigation. And they kept it open for the express purpose of trying to catch, lay a perjury trap for General Flynn.

They didn’t warn him, the way we usually would be required by the Department. They bypassed the Justice Department. They bypassed the protocols at the White House and so forth. These were things that persuaded me that there was not a legitimate counterintelligence investigation going on.

Advertisement

He said he was prepared for the flak from the left.

Yeah, I’m prepared for that. I also think it’s sad that nowadays these partisan feelings are so strong that people have lost any sense of justice. And the groups that usually worry about civil liberties and making sure that there’s proper procedures followed and standards set seem to be ignoring it and willing to destroy people’s lives and see great injustices done.

Asked about where he thought some of the impetus to set such a trap came from, he responded “the seventh floor.” Herridge replied that the seventh floor meant the Director at the time, James Comey. To which Barr responded, “Comey and the deputy’s office.”

Barr said he “made clear” he was going to get to the bottom of what happened in 2016 and 2017, before and after the election and that included Flynn.

But he hinted that more might be coming in regard to the actions against Flynn and the “whole pattern of conduct.”

That is part of John Durham, U.S. Attorney John Durham’s portfolio. The reason we had to take this action now and why U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen came in was because it was prompted by the motions that were filed in that case. And so we had to sorta move more quickly on it. But John Durham is still looking at all of this.

This is one particular episode, but we view it as part of a number of related acts. And we’re looking at the whole pattern of conduct. [….]

Well, you know, I don’t wanna, you know, we’re in the middle of looking at all of this. John Durham’s investigation, and U.S. Attorney Jensen, I’m gonna ask him to do some more work on different items as well. And I’m gonna wait till all the evidence is, and I get their recommendations as to what they found and how serious it is.

Advertisement

Gotta love it: He’s fearless.

Recommended

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on RedState Videos