The top Republican in the Senate said new revelations about the FBI’s investigation into retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn were “disturbing.”
Phoning in to Fox News on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell admonished top officials in the FBI for the bureau’s treatment of Flynn, President Trump’s first national security adviser who was caught up in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
“It’s been interesting to watch, and if all of this proves to be true, you will have, certainly, a major, major error on the part of top leadership at the FBI, which could well warrant additional charges against them,” the Kentucky Republican said. “If true, this is very, very troubling — disturbing.”
On Thursday, unsealed documents showed former FBI agent Peter Strzok blocked the FBI from closing its investigation into Flynn after the agency found no “derogatory information” in early January 2017.
Flynn, 61, is fighting to dismiss the government’s case against him. He pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to investigators about his conversations with Russian diplomat Sergey Kislyak about sanctions on Russia and a United Nations resolution on Israel in late January 2017. Flynn told the court earlier this year that he was “innocent of this crime.” He filed to withdraw his guilty plea after the Justice Department asked the judge to sentence him to up to six months in prison — though afterward, the department said probation would also be appropriate. His lead attorney, Sidney Powell, is pressing for the dismissal of his case by arguing that the FBI unfairly treated Flynn.
Trump said last month he was seriously considering a pardon for his former national security adviser, but McConnell said it was not the appropriate time for him to consider whether a pardon is the right choice.
“If those decisions are made, either if the attorney general decides there are charges to be brought or the president decides there is a pardon to be issued, that would be the appropriate time to respond,” McConnell said. “I’m not going to give them advice about this. I’m going to look at the facts, presumably, and decide what’s appropriate for the country.”
Attorney General William Barr has tasked U.S. Attorney John Durham with reviewing possible misconduct by federal law enforcement and intelligence officials who were involved in the Russia investigation. So far, no known charges have been filed. Barr also ordered a review of Flynn’s prosecution, led by U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri Jeffrey Jensen.
McConnell was asked whether he believes former FBI Director James Comey should be criminally charged for his role in overseeing the agency’s investigation, but the Senate leader refused to answer.
“Revealing this story has been extremely important for the country,” added McConnell. “If true, it is extremely troubling and action, of course, under our system would be taken by others on the issues that you raised.”
