Why do you think General Flynn lied to the FBI??

[kentuck]

After all, he had been the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. He knew how the system worked. Yet, he still chose to lie?

He was the National Security Adviser. No one in government had more access to America's secrets than he, except the President of the United States.

According to Peter Strzok, the head of Counter-Intelligence at the FBI, they gave him every opportunity to tell the truth and he still refused.

Then, Strzok and the FBI, went to the Gang of Eight and advised them of what had happened. In his book, he said that no one objected.

But, the Gang of Eight was slightly different then. Devin Nunes was the Chair of the House Intelligence and he decided to keep the White House informed about everything that was happening. Who can forget his midnight run to the White House? That was the moment the intelligence apparatus fell apart.

When Comey and McCabe were fired, and later Strzok himself, there was chaos at the FBI. Nobody was in charge. Chris Christie recommended one of his boys, Christopher Wray, to take charge of the Department. When was the last time you heard from him?

General Flynn has since pleaded guilty twice to lying to the FBI and the present DOJ is trying to get him free from the charges. We still do not know the answers. There are more questions and suspicions than ever before.

[Chainfire]

1. I think it is a matter of arrogance

The thought that I am too clever to be caught in a lie. That I know so much more than everyone else, that it is justified for me to lie to protect the cause. The right-wingers consider themselves to be a war with the left, and they believe, as Churchill said, "In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies."

When a lie, to protect the "cause" or the President, is found out, there is reason to believe that it would be without costs, as Trump will be willing to weigh in with his executive authority to pardon; banana republic rules.

[Progressive dog]

2. Ilike this Churchill quote about lies better

"Truth is incontrovertible, ignorance can deride it, panic may resent it, malice may destroy it, but there it is."

[Chainfire]

30. In the Republican party the truth is variable

it can change from moment to moment. For them the truth is what is supportive in the moment. Tomorrow, if it becomes inconvenient, it can be denied. At this point that I believe they have no concept of the difference of the value of truth or falsehood.

It is as if they embraced the concept of the "Big Lie" from Hitler and Gobbels.

If we don't rid ourselves of the lying Fascist soon, we may not get another chance.

[spanone]

3. K&R...

[Generic Brad]

4. He has Scooby Doo bad guy syndrome

He would have gotten away with it if not for that pesky dog and those kids.

[SWBTATTReg]

5. There's a reason why we have this checks and balances on such apparatus and such, and all of ...

these thugs from the top down (not just Flynn) flaunted the rule of law, would lie and cheat (if they could, or they did already and didn't get caught, etc.). They pretty well politicized the entire intelligence picture and have/are damaging the intelligence gathering operations of the USA. If you ask me, these people, each and everyone of them are traitors, and serve the republican party and not the USA, to further their ripping off the US government, get away w/ whatever they can, under the table, all sorts of nefarious doings. We've only touched the surface of the whole mess.

Biden, when he's in office, should move to appoint a panel to investigate the illegal activities of each one of these crooks and scumbags, charge them if applicable, put them up for trial, and if found guilty, be fined or thrown into prison. Highlight their crime(s) for all to see, put all that they did illegally into the public eye, for all to see. No more of this pussyfooting around (don't repeat the fiasco that happened after the mortgage/real estate meltdown of 2008, and allowed the crooks/enablers of the fiasco of 2008 to escape justice).

Also, ensure that a repeat of trump will never happen again. Separate clearly the powers of the Executive Branch into such that they can't threaten the integrity of social security and other such essential programs that so many depend on. Some things deserve 24x7 protection against the excesses of the Executive Branch as trump so well shown all of us. So many things that Congress had passed in prior administrations were toast by the trump administration regardless of being funded by Congress legally. Ensure that legal programs in the past stay legal. Why is it that every single time a administration changes, that all of a sudden, the rules are changed again and again and again, solely for political gain and nothing else. In essence, we need to further protect our essential government infrastructure against the abuses being inflicted by the trump administration (or any other administration). If a program is essential, and something needs to be changed, do it nationwide, with a nationwide vote, don't piece it out to 535 representatives, because I for one, don't feel like my vote is counting or my say is worth anything. Remember that ol' saying, taxation w/o representation? This is what happened in 2017 when they (the republicans) passed the 2017 tax cut and jobs (a joke) bill. Crafted for only the 1%ers and no one else, and the republicans even admitted it, that the bill was for their donors.

[erronis]

10. From your keyboard to goddess's screen. Good set of suggestions.

[duforsure]

6. To hide trumps corruption and conspiring with,

Russia and Putin, and his involvement with the kidnaping of the Turkish cleric in this country he wanted as a favor for Erdogan.

[infullview]

17. Bingo

He fell on his sword to take attention away from the big orange asshole occupying the white house.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. People lie to hide a bigger problem. Bigger problem is the collusion with Russia & other stuff. nt

[iluvtennis]

12. + 1. nt

[babylonsister]

8. Because he's in this up to his eyeballs.

Follow the money, and didn't he have to admit he was a foreign agent after the fact, suggesting he didn't want this to be known? There's another thread to pull...


Disgraced Trump adviser Mike Flynn admits he worked as a “foreign agent” for the Turkish government
It turns out Flynn’s ties to foreign governments don’t stop at Russia.
By Jennifer Williams@[email protected] Mar 9, 2017, 4:30pm EST

https://www.vox.com/world/2017/3/9/14868680/trump-adviser-michael-flynn-foreign-agent-turkey-lobby

[slumcamper]

18. This!

He is compromised--a complicit tool in Russia's scheme to weaken and co-opt the US in Putin's scheme to revitalize Mother Russia and establish itself as a dominant superpower.

Were he to be truthful, then the associated cadre of others compromised politically, financially, or otherwise would be exposed.

Russia has skillfully groomed and constructed a systemic constellation of traitors, and these lowlifes and their complicitors in Congress currently wield power.

[cp]

9. More afraid of Putin and polonium than FBI?

If so, Traitor.

[dlk]

11. Strzok hinted Flynn may have been instructed to lie since he knew he was being recorded

The malfeasance and crimes lead to Trump and Trump leads to Putin. It’s an enormous web.

[H2O Man]

13. Recommended.

That's a good question. An important question.

First, I think Peter Strzok's new book is essential reading. I'm hoping to interview him for this forum. If he agrees, I'll ask him questions that aren't found on the series of interviews he is currently doing. I respect him and his patriotism.

I'll start with what I think is the key: did Flynn lie to Pence about the contact with the Russians? Although the White House immediately took that position for cause to fire Flynn, one can never believe anything that this administration says to be true. Before we can determine why Flynn lied to the FBI, I think it needs to be evaluated if he actually lied to Pence, or if Pence was fully aware of this contact, and then lied to the media. Those represent a split in the path we would go on, to answer why Flynn lied to the FBI.

[Eyeball_Kid]

15. Pence knew that Flynn was lying.

It didn’t matter to Pence. He was taking orders. Flynn’s lawyers had notified Pence three times that Flynn was an unregistered foreign agent BEFORE Flynn was nominated for the NSC. The fix was in. That Flynn lied to Pence was the cover story that protected Trump.

[kentuck]

20. I agree. I think Pence knew.

But they needed a "political" reason to fire Flynn, other than "he lied to the FBI". So they created the story that he lied to the Vice-President. That itself was a lie.

Why did the Republicans appoint a "Special Counsel" to investigate it? The evidence must have seemed pretty strong to them?

Indeed, their endeavor all along has been to protect Trump.

[H2O Man]

23. Again, great question!

Timing is key. Mr. Comey, as director of the FBI, oversaw the investigation of Trump's campaign's connections with Russian intelligence. Officially, this did not include investigating Trump directly. (Indirectly, of course, they were. As Peter has noted in recent television interviews, there were numerous reasons to investigate Trump as a national security risk. Yet, even today, these remain highly classified. That is essential -- that level of classification would prevent the evidence from ever being seen in a federal court. Think of the AIPAC spy scandal from the Plame era.)

Mr. Mueller was appointed to head the investigation after Trump fired Mr. Comey. Rod Rosenstein appointed him, as second in command at the DOJ. (The elf had recused himself.) The documents and testimony that has been made public show that even he recognized that Trump might be either a Russian asset at that time.

Now, we are heading down the path that Peter Strzok is pointing to.

[kentuck]

26. I would bet that the average person on the street believes that Democrats appointed Mueller.

Many Republicans were as shocked as Democrats when Flynn was busted, in my opinion. That is why they agreed to the Special Counsel appointed by Rosenstein.

Trump maneuvered them, over time, to not investigate any counter-intelligence matters. It was noted in one of Rachel Maddow's interviews that the FBI was not even aware that Rosenstein, who had taken over for Jeff Sessions, had dropped the counter-intelligence investigation.

Over time, and by juggling his Cabinet and advisers, Trump was able to get the Republicans to comply with his wishes. They became complicit by default.

[H2O Man]

28. It was the DOJ

that appointed Mr. Mueller. The Congress (House and Senate) didn't. But when he was initially appointed, both Democrats and republicans expressed confidence in his abilities.

When Rosenstein appointed Bob, it appeared that he was sincere. However, as Mr. Comey noted, Rod had never been shown to have a spine in his career. Indeed, it was the document he wrote for Trump that was the official excuse for firing Comey.

[kentuck]

29. True.

edited to correct.

Strzok did say that the Gang of Eight was advised of counter-intelligence information and no one questioned it at that time. Of course, that was before Nunes made his midnight run.

Both Parties were aware of the seriousness of the matter, it did seem?

[H2O Man]

21. Right.

That's where the real story lies. If one believes Flynn "lied" to Pence, they go down the rabbit hole path. But if one recognizes that Flynn had no reason to lie to Pence -- for Pence is as dirty as a pig-pen -- then they start down the correct path.

It was indeed a cover story, exactly as you say ......one created to misdirect the FBI.

[kentuck]

22. Exactly!

The press and the investigators have been operating from the wrong premise since January of 2017.

[H2O Man]

24. Yes.

That's exactly why my first question to Peter would focus on the Flynn-Pence relationship. Peter knows that the more important lie Flynn is clinging to was about his communication with Pence, not the Russian. That is what Flynn was willing to fall upon his own sword for. And that's why the Attorney General wants to drop the charges against a man convicted by his own plea.

That is the key to understanding not only what happened four years ago, but what is happening today.

[kentuck]

27. I agree.

That is the lie that needs to be uncovered.

[Eyeball_Kid]

14. Arrogance.

Flynn knew that a coup was afoot, and anticipated that his lies wouldn’t matter because Trump would protect him. He saw Trump as the new Putin and Trump would neuter the FBI soon enough. Yeah, Flynn knew that his lies would be discovered, but he viewed the FBI as weak and getting weaker. No big deal. And now we see what he meant. Trumpy is STILL keeping Flynn out of jail.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

16. It's like a switch was flipped in the mind of Flynn and others.

Will we ever understand it?

[RussBLib]

19. Trump told him to

and no one crosses the mob boss

[Kid Berwyn]

31. +1

Flynn knew FBINSCIAETC would be listening in to the call. By doing Drumpf’s bidding, he exposed the Putin Cabal. Not calling him a hero — he was selling Saudi Arabia nukes from his seat at the inaugural — but Flynn thought he soon would be in power as National Security Adviser and, thus, able to quash any investigation or investigator.



Can you imagine what Drumpf could have accomplished with a smart ally as NSA?

[Takket]

25. because he is a treasonous piece of shit and wanted to get away with what he had done