Attorney Sol Wisenberg said officials responsible for leaking information about the investigation into retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn should be charged with a felony for their actions.
Wisenberg, a former deputy Whitewater independent counsel who appeared with former Whitewater Independent Counsel Ken Starr during a panel with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, called for accountability after it was reported that a list of Obama administration officials involved in the “unmasking” of Flynn was declassified and could soon be released to the public.
“What shows disrespect for the law is when you unmask officials who shouldn’t be unmasked and then leak classified material and leak the Kislyak-Flynn phone calls to the press, which is a felony offense punishable with a 10-year statutory maximum,” Wisenberg said, referring to the contacts Flynn had with Russian envoy Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition period.
Wisenberg recounted the timeline of events in the Flynn investigation, more details of which have come to light with recent document disclosures. Newly unsealed FBI documents showed then-FBI agent Peter Strzok and the FBI’s “7th floor” leadership stopped the bureau from closing its investigation into Flynn in early January 2017, though investigators had uncovered “no derogatory information” after the emergence of intercepted contacts between Flynn and the Russian diplomat.
“An investigation of the incoming national security adviser had already completely cleared him but was kept open under a fraudulent pretext, and he was interviewed under a fraudulent pretext, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with his phone calls with the Russian Ambassador Kislyak,” he said.
Flynn was investigated as part of the FBI’s counterintelligence inquiry into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to FBI investigators in late January of that year about his conversations with the Russian ambassador before Trump entered the White House. In the ensuing controversy, after it was believed he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about those contacts, he was forced out as White House national security adviser.
After swapping legal teams, Flynn declared his innocence and claimed he was set up by the FBI. The Justice Department filed to dismiss its criminal charges against Flynn on Thursday, agreeing with his attorneys that the interview with the FBI should never have taken place because his conversations with the Russian diplomat were “entirely appropriate.” The federal judge presiding over the case will have the final say on the matter.
The FBI’s inquiry, which began in late July 2016 and was code-named Crossfire Hurricane, was later wrapped into special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, which ultimately found no criminal conspiracy between the Trump team and the Kremlin.
Wisenberg also talked about how former President Barack Obama and others have questioned the credibility of Attorney General William Barr as the Justice Department scrutinizes whether there was any wrongdoing in the Russia investigation. U.S. Attorney John Durham is reportedly investigating the leaks of potentially classified information related to Flynn to the media in early 2017.
“It’s very important for them to try to destroy the legitimacy of Bill Barr because Bill Barr is doing the right thing, and he’s getting to the bottom of this,” Wisenberg said. “It’s entirely lawful for the Department of Justice to dismiss a prosecution in the interest of justice.”
