Sen. Lindsey Graham said newly released FBI notes concerning retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn “reek of criminal misconduct.”
Graham joined Fox News host Sean Hannity Wednesday after FBI documents were unsealed showing officials discussing how to conduct their interview of the Trump national security adviser, and notes from one FBI official who was wondering whether the goal of an interview with Flynn was to “get him to lie so we can prosecute him or get him fired.”
“Yeah, there’s more coming,” Graham said, referring to further documents that Flynn’s lawyer, Sidney Powell, said would be released shortly.
“It’s pretty apparent to me that Gen. Flynn was a victim of an out-of-control Department of Justice,” the South Carolina Republican said. “He basically got railroaded. It’s pretty widely known that the Obama administration didn’t have much use for Gen. Flynn.”
“Gen. Flynn deserved better from his government,” Graham continued. “He was willing to die for his country. The people who were involved in this, I hope, will be held to account. Attorney General [William] Barr is beginning to right wrongs. There’s a lot more coming. I promise you that everybody who signed the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] warrant against Carter Page will be asked to testify before the Judiciary Committee.”
Hannity said, “A lot of moving parts here.” He added: “And I think it’s very revealing some of the things the attorney general has said. I’m paying attention. And some of the movements of the prosecutor [John] Durham in terms of hiring more staff.”
Graham responded: “These notes reek of criminal misconduct. … One of the worst things that can happen in any democracy is for those who are in charge of the law to take it in their own hands for political purposes. I think that is what has happened here. Time will tell. I promise you that we’re going to find out how the FBI operated when they were told by the Russian subsource in January 2017, the dossier is a bunch of garbage. I find it impossible to believe that did not work its way up to [former FBI Director James] Comey and [former FBI Deputy Director Andrew] McCabe. In January 2017, the person who prepared the dossier for Christopher Steele told the FBI it’s a bunch of bar talk and hearsay, and they obtained two warrants after that. How could that possibly happen?”
Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to federal investigators about his conversations with a Russian diplomat. After changing his legal representation, Flynn has since declared his innocence and moved to dismiss the case, which is a spinoff from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
