Constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley set his sights on CNN for reporting on former President Barack Obama’s warning about the “rule of law” being “at risk” after the Justice Department dropped charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn, saying the outlet didn’t note “that he was wrong on Flynn’s criminal charge.”
Turley, a self-proclaimed liberal who was a witness during the impeachment proceedings against President Trump, tweeted Saturday, “CNN continues to report on Obama’s statement without noting that he was wrong on Flynn’s criminal charge and wrong on the lack of precedent.”
He added in the post of the network, “Given its slogan ‘Facts First,’ it appears the facts are not even coming last. They are not coming at all.”
(resent) CNN continues to report on Obama’s statement without noting that he was wrong on Flynn’s criminal charge and wrong on the lack of precedent. Given its slogan “Facts First,” it appears the facts are not even coming last. They are not coming at all. https://t.co/UQ58aLDB6T
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) May 9, 2020
In his tweet, Turley linked to an article on his website, titled, “President Obama Declares ‘There Is No Precedent That Anybody Can Find’ For The Flynn Motion [He May Want To Call Eric Holder],” concerning Obama “being quoted from a private call that the ‘rule of law is at risk’ after the Justice Department moved to dismiss the case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.”
“Obama reportedly told members of the Obama Alumni Association that ‘There is no precedent that anybody can find for someone who has been charged with perjury just getting off scot-free,’” Turley wrote in his post. “[Notably, CNN covered the statements this morning without noting the clearly false claim over the lack of any precedent for the Flynn motion].”
Turley also laid out three reasons why the statement is “curious,” including, “Flynn was never charged with perjury,” “there is ample precedent for this motion even though, as I noted in the column calling for this action, such dismissals are rare,” and “there is also case law … dealing with the dangers of multiple prosecutions.”
