Former FBI Director James Comey said the Justice Department had demonstrated it was no longer apolitical after it dismissed criminal charges against retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.
“The DOJ has lost its way,” Comey said in a Thursday afternoon tweet.
Indicating that his frustration lies with the top brass at Attorney General William Barr’s Justice Department, Comey also urged career employees to stay at their jobs. “America needs you,” he said. “The country is hungry for honest, competent leadership.”
The DOJ has lost its way. But, career people: please stay because America needs you. The country is hungry for honest, competent leadership.
— James Comey (@Comey) May 7, 2020
Flynn, who served as President Trump’s first national security adviser for less than a month, pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his conversations with a Russian diplomat before Trump entered the White House.
Flynn cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election but took a more combative approach after replacing his legal team. His new attorneys aggressively fought the charges against Flynn, who declared his innocence in January and claimed he was set up by the FBI.
In moving to drop the charges on Thursday, the Justice Department said in a court filing the “continued prosecution of this case would not serve the interests of justice.” This followed disclosures of FBI notes about the Flynn investigation, which Flynn’s defense argued was suppressed exculpatory evidence. The documents were unearthed by a U.S. attorney handpicked by Barr to review the case.
Before firing him in May 2017, Trump asked Comey to shut down the federal investigation into his former national security adviser, according to memos Comey wrote about his meetings with the president.
“I hope you can let it go,” Trump told Comey the day after Flynn resigned.
Trump cheered the DOJ’s move to dismiss the Flynn case on Thursday, calling Flynn “a great warrior.”
