[ad_1]
A federal judge said on Tuesday that the Department of Justice no longer had to publicly file the transcript of a fatal phone call between former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and the US Attorney General. Russian ambassador to the United States, a sudden and unexplained turnaround from his previous order last month
This development comes as Republicans allege that a separate rendition of the court-ordered transcript showed that the report of special advocate Robert Mueller contained an edited version of an edited way – and allegedly misleading – a voice message from Trump's former lawyer, John Dowd, to Flynn's lawyer, Rob Kelner.
US District Judge Emmet Sullivan had previously ordered prosecutors to disclose the details of an appeal in December 2016 when Flynn discussed sanctions with Sergey Kislyak, then Russian envoy to Washington.
EXCELLENT LAWYER BLOCKED MUELLER DECLARED "FRAUD"
Sullivan had also given government lawyers until May 31 to draft excerpts from Mueller's report regarding Flynn, as well as a transcript of a phone message that a Trump lawyer had left for Flynn's lawyer after Flynn decided to start cooperating with prosecutors.
On Friday, prosecutors publicly filed the transcript of the phone call between lawyers and said that all information contained in the report provided by Flynn had not been redacted. But they refused to produce a transcript of Flynn's appeal with Kislyak, stating that they were not relying on that conversation to establish his guilt or determine his sentence.
In a brief order written Tuesday, Sullivan said that "after reviewing government submissions in response to these orders, the government is not required to file additional documents or information on the public record". He did not explain why he had changed his mind and apparently left open the possibility that he would order that documents be sealed under the seal in the future.
Flynn is awaiting his conviction before Sullivan after pleading guilty in 2017 to having lied to the FBI about his contact with Kislyak. He was to be sentenced in December, but in the middle of the hearing, the judge offered to defer him so that he could continue to cooperate with prosecutors and earn a credit for a lighter sentence.
MUELLER'S REPORT REVEALS FLYNN WAS INVESTIGATED EARLIER EARLIER WHEN IT WAS ANNOUNCED
Meanwhile, Republicans focused their attention on the transcript released on Friday. Dowd, the former Trump lawyer, left the voice message to Kelner after Flynn entered into a joint defense agreement and agreed to cooperate with Mueller. Mueller's team analyzed the message as part of its investigation into whether President Trump was obstructing justice.
According to the Mueller report, Dowd said, "I understand your situation, but let me see if I can not state it more clearly … [I]it would not surprise me if you had a deal with … the government … [I]f … there is information that involves the president, so we have a national security problem … so, you know … we need some kind of warning head. Uh, just to protect all our interests if we can … [R]Remember what we've always said about the President and his feelings for Flynn and it's still there. "
But the full transcript revealed that Dowd had made it clear that he was not looking for confidential information – and raised questions as to why Mueller would have omitted seemingly exculpatory information. The transcript excerpt of the Mueller report drew a lot of attention from the press at the time.
The complete quote reads, with an added emphasis: "Hey, Rob, uh, here's John again, uh, maybe, III -m-I'm sympathetic, I understand your situation, but let me see if I'm not can not … Express it in stricter terms, if you have … and it would not surprise me if you have an agreement with, and, uh, work with the government, uh … I understand you can not join So the common defense is one thing, but if we have information that involves the president, we have a national security problem, or perhaps a national security problem, I do not know. we have had to – we have to deal not only for the president, but for the country.so … uh … you know, so-so, you know, we need some kind of a head up. … protect all our interests, if we can, without you having to give up … confidential information. So, uh, and if it's old, then, you know, remember what we've always said about the President and his feelings towards Flynn and, that still is, but – Anyway, uh, let me know, and, uh, I appreciate your listening and your time taking. Thank you my friend. "
Representative Devin Nunes, R-Calif., Called for the release of "all backup and source information" for the Mueller report on Friday after the revelation of the transcript, and Dowd told Fox News that the Mueller report was fraud".
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Alan Dershowitz, a former professor at Harvard Law School, said Monday night in "Hannity" Fox News that the quote was "distorted".
"It's a very, very serious problem," he said. "The distortion of Dowd's quote is very serious, especially since, remember, the report of a special board will always be one way, so you have to trust it."
Catherine Herridge of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link