The newly declassified handwritten notes by former FBI agent Peter Strzok memorialized the crucial Jan. 5, 2017, meeting at the Obama White House, according to Attorney General William Barr.
Upon their release as part of the lawsuit against former national security adviser Michael Flynn on June 24, Strzoks notes didnt bear a date. In a court filing, Flynns attorneys said the notes appear to have been taken on Jan. 4, 2017.
Barrs revelation of the date and location of the crucial meeting adds to a growing body of evidence surrounding a conversation about the investigation of Flynn held between President Barack Obama and senior administration officials at the White House on Jan. 5, 2017.
Strzok identified the same attendees as did then-national security adviser Susan Rice in a recently declassified email she sent on Jan. 20, 2017. Obama, Rice, Vice President Joe Biden, FBI Director James Comey, and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates attended the meeting, according to the notes and the email.
In an interview about the same meeting with Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, Yates left Biden and Rice off the list of the attendees present. In testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Comey likewise left Biden and Rice off the list.
The date of the meeting raised a question about how Strzok learned of the content of the conversation. The on-the-fly nature of the notes suggest he was either physically present or listened in on a conference call.
“Theyre handwritten notes of the January 5 meeting at the White House between the president, vice president, James Comey, and others,” Barr said on the Verdict podcast with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on June 25.
According to the notes, Obama asked those present whether there is anything he “shouldnt be telling transition team.” Comey responded by pointing to Flynns calls with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, but noted that the calls “appear legit.”
The notes say that Biden brought up the Logan Act, an archaic and likely unconstitutional law that prohibits citizens from conducting unauthorized negotiations with foreign powers. Flynn was never charged under the Logan Act.
The involvement of Obama and Biden in an investigation of a key member of an incoming administration raises questions whether the outgoing administration abandoned the tradition of a peaceful transition of power in favor of a probe stemming from conduct that even the FBI director described as “legit.”
One day prior to the January 5 White House meeting, Strzok asked a fellow FBI agent to refrain from closing the Flynn case. The agent had prepared the documents to close the case after finding no evidence of wrongdoing. Strzok intervened and mentioned that the request came from the bureaus management.Read More From Source
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