Last week, former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn entered a guilty plea to a charge of lying to the FBI agents. On Saturday, we found that the guy leading Robert Mueller’s FBI team had been forced off the team and out of his position as deputy FBI director for counterintelligence because of an IG investigation. Ostensibly, the reason was that he had sent anti-Trump and pro-Clinton texts to his paramour, an FBI lawyer (female, at least there’s that). But the ongoing IG investigation is much, much larger than a few rogue text messages:
Now, thanks to Sara Carter, we have a connection between the two events (btw, were it not for Sara Carter’s byline I would not touch as story from this site with a ten-foot pole):
FBI agent Peter Strzok was one of two FBI agents who interviewed Flynn, which took place on Jan. 24, at the White House, said several sources. The other FBI special agent, who interviewed Flynn, is described by sources as a field supervisor in the “Russian Squad, at the FBI’s Washington Field Office,” according to a former intelligence official, with knowledge of the interview.
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The former official also said that “Strzok’s allegiance to (Deputy Director Andrew) McCabe was unwavering and very well known.”
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According to another source, with direct knowledge of the Jan. 24 interview, McCabe had contacted Flynn by phone directly at the White House. White House officials had spent the “earlier part of the week with the FBI overseeing training and security measures associated with their new roles so it was no surprise to Flynn that McCabe had called,” the source said.McCabe told Flynn “some agents were heading over (to the White House) but Flynn thought it was part of the routine work the FBI had been doing and said they would be cleared at the gate,” the source said.
“It wasn’t until after they were already in (Flynn’s) office that he realized he was being formerly interviewed. He didn’t have an attorney with him,” they added.
Flynn’s attorney Robert Kelner did not respond for comment.
A former senior Trump administration official, however, described Strzok as one of the “best agents in the bureau. And has now become the latest victim in the Russia investigation.”
“He was the top counterintelligence agent and an asset to the bureau and America,” said the official, who disputed that Strozk would let his political leanings influence his work, despite the alleged anti-Trump text messages his sent Page.
FBI spokeswoman Carol Cratty could not be immediately reached for comment. Strzok could also not be reached for comment.
A former FBI agent said the investigation into Strzok and the reported text messages between him and Page, shows a “bias that cannot be ignored particularly if he had anything to do with Flynn’s interview and his role in it.”
The former U.S. intelligence official questioned, “how logical is it that Flynn is being charged for lying to an agent whose character and neutrality was called into question by the Special Counsel.”
Don’t know what, if anything, this means. I don’t think this looks all that good for Mueller’s team. When your lead source against a key target has been removed from his position because of what looks like a very ugly IG investigation, it doesn’t paint you as the epitome of competence. But I’m a Mueller-skeptic, so there’s that. At a minimum, as GOP pressure continues to build on Mueller to get the hell done with whatever it is that he’s doing, the intimate involvement of Clinton and Obama donors among his prosecutors and having Clinton supporters like Strzok basically guiding the investigation from receipt of the Trump dossier to the appointment of Mueller is going to become an increasingly heavy load to bear. Combine that with him being the guy who changed the language of the Comey announcement on Hillary Clinton’s email putting prosecution out of bounds, you have a solid picture of a couple of politically charged investigations run by a guy who had a political agenda.
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