Former Rep. Trey Gowdy recalled the FBI telling Congress they did not make a record of all the conversations between retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and a Russian envoy.
That could pose a point of controversy as the nation waits for the release of the transcripts that are now a focus of the “Obamagate” controversy in which allies of President Trump believe federal officials improperly targeted his campaign and administration.
Last week, it was reported that the FBI, not the National Security Agency, wiretapped Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak’s calls with Trump’s then-incoming national security adviser on Dec. 29, 2016, and made a summary and transcript. Gowdy suggested there may be some gaps in what was captured during the presidential transition period.
“I think that you will look at the ones that they actually captured. I think there were multiple calls, and some of the transcripts didn’t come through — at least, that was the explanation we were given,” the South Carolina Republican told Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum on Friday.
Gowdy made the comment after FBI Director Christopher Wray ordered an internal review of the Flynn case, which is under intense scrutiny. Flynn’s defense team and others, including Trump, have asked why the FBI’s original FD-302 summary detailing the bureau’s interview with Flynn is “missing.”
Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to FBI investigators about his conversations with Kislyak regarding a United Nations resolution on Israel and sanctions. But Flynn now claims he was set up by the FBI, and the Justice Department is seeking to drop the case.
Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, who will soon be replaced by Rep. John Ratcliffe after he was confirmed by the Senate on a party-line vote, said the nation’s top spy office is working to declassify those conversations, but only those that are in ODNI’s possession.
Gowdy, who was a top House Intelligence Committee investigator before his retirement from Congress in January 2019, said the transcripts he has seen are nothing controversial.
“I think when the transcripts are released, you’re gonna be bored out of your mind. And you’re going to wonder, ‘This is criminal? This is enough to target a three-star general? This conversation?'” Gowdy said. “The ones that are available, I have read. I think the FBI told us they didn’t capture all the calls — some of them they missed. Don’t know what was on those, but you will be bored out of your mind.”
He also criticized Wray for waiting so long to initiate an internal audit of the Flynn case, which lacks the ability to bring criminal charges and can only lead to disciplinary action against current, not former employees.
“It’s been four years. What the hell have they been doing? And I mean, this happened in 2016 and 2017,” Gowdy said. “So, I mean, it’s not like he just learned of the misconduct. We just learned of it, or some of your viewers just learned of it. He’s known about it since the day he became the FBI director.”
