FBI official discussed trying to get Flynn to lie in interview, ‘get him fired,’ notes show

A handwritten note penned by an FBI official involved in the investigation into alleged ties between President Trump’s campaign and Russia discussed the possibility of getting former national security adviser Michael Flynn fired, or forcing him to lie during his interrogation.

The newly unsealed note details the strategy against Flynn in his meetings during the early days of the investigation with agents whom he has accused of tricking him into lying about his foreign dealings.

“What’s our goal? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?” reads the note, written by the FBI’s then-director of counterintelligence. “If we get him to admit to breaking the Logan Act, give facts to DOJ & have them decide. Or, if he initially lies, then we present him [redacted] & he admits it, document for DOJ, & let them decide how to address it.”

Flynn’s team is expected to argue that the note implicated the agents in harboring a bias against Flynn or Trump, a charge that the president and his allies have lobbied for years against the investigators in the now-shuttered Russia investigation.

The former national security adviser left the White House and initially pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to investigators about his contacts with foreign nationals. In recent months, he has sought to withdraw his plea.

Trump has continued to indicate public support for his ousted adviser, and trashed CNN and “others” Wednesday evening over the news of the most recent developments.

“.@CNN doesn’t want to speak about their persecution of General Michael Flynn & why they got the story so wrong. They, along with others, should pay a big price for what they have purposely done to this man & his family. They won’t even cover the big breaking news about this scam!” he tweeted.

.@CNN doesn’t want to speak about their persecution of General Michael Flynn & why they got the story so wrong. They, along with others, should pay a big price for what they have purposely done to this man & his family. They won’t even cover the big breaking news about this scam!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 29, 2020

“What happened to General Michael Flynn, a war hero, should never be allowed to happen to a citizen of the United States again!” the president added in a subsequent tweet.

What happened to General Michael Flynn, a war hero, should never be allowed to happen to a citizen of the United States again!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 30, 2020

–Morgan Chalfant contributed to this report, which was updated at 9:26 a.m.