Former National Security Adviser Gen Michael Flynn's attorney has accused the FBI of plotting to frame her client and insisted that Pr...
Former National Security Adviser Gen Michael Flynn's attorney has accused the FBI of plotting to frame her client and insisted that President Barack Obama was in on the scheme.
Flynn was charged with lying to FBI investigators about his contact with a Russian ambassador under special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation in 2017.
He initially pleaded guilty but withdrew the plea in January. The Justice Department announced that it was dropping the charges last week as Flynn's legal team called the FBI's tactics into question.
'These agents specifically schemed and planned with each other how to not tip him off, that he was even the person being investigated,' his attorney, Sidney Powell, told Fox News on Sunday.
'They kept him relaxed and unguarded deliberately as part of their effort to set him up and frame him.'
Sidney Powell (left), the lead attorney for former National Security Adviser Gen Michael Flynn (right), accused the FBI of orchestrating a plot to frame her client in a Fox News interview on Sunday
Powell pointed to recently released testimony about an Oval Office meeting then-President Obama held with officials weeks before Flynn's interview.
During the meeting Obama allegedly revealed that he knew about Flynn's phone call with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak - which apparently came as a surprise to then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.
After the meeting, Obama asked to speak with Yates and then-FBI Director James Comey privately.
The president 'specified that he did not want any additional information on the matter, but was seeking information on whether the White House should be treating Flynn any differently, given the information', according to the testimony.
'The whole thing was orchestrated and set up within the FBI, [former Director of National Intelligence James] Clapper, [Former CIA Director John] Brennan, and in the Oval Office meeting that day with President Obama,' Powell said during the interview with Sunday Morning Futures.
Asked if she believes that Flynn was the victim of a plot that went all the way up to Obama, Powell stated: 'Absolutely.'
Asked if she believes that Flynn was the victim of a plot that went all the way up to then-President Barack Obama, Powell stated: 'Absolutely'
The attorney's statements came as Vice President Mike Pence said he would welcome Flynn's return to the Trump administration.
In an interview with online news site Axios, Pence was asked if he would like Flynn to return to work for President Donald Trump.
'For my part, I'd be happy to see Michael Flynn again,' Pence said, and defended the department's action.
Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday said he would welcome Flynn's return to the Trump administration
Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators more than two years ago.
In 2017, Trump said he had fired Flynn for misleading Pence about his dealings with Russia's US ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the weeks before Trump took office.
Pence's statement could help pave the way for Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general and 2016 Trump campaign adviser, to return to the president's orbit if the courts grant the department's request.
Flynn initially pleaded guilty and vowed to cooperate with US prosecutors before hiring new lawyers and reversing himself.
On Thursday, the Justice Department asked a judge to drop criminal charges against Flynn amid mounting pressure from the Republican president and his political allies, sparking criticism from Democrats and others who accused Attorney General William Barr of improperly protecting Trump's friends and associates.
It is unclear how the federal judge handling the case will proceed.
Flynn's lawyer Sidney Powell told Fox News she expected US District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington to sign off on the department's request this week.
Last month, Trump told reporters he might rehire Flynn and would weigh Pence's comments on the matter, and on Sunday re-aired his grievances with a slew of related retweets.
Critics have accused Trump of becoming emboldened after his February acquittal in his Senate impeachment trial to interfere in cases involving people close to him.
Democratic lawmakers have also called on the department's internal watchdog to investigate the Flynn matter.
Last month, Trump told reporters he might rehire Flynn and would weigh Pence's comments on the matter, and on Sunday re-aired his grievances with a slew of related retweets
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