During an interview with CBS on Thursday, Attorney General William Barr explained the decision to drop the charges against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn by stating that the DOJ isn’t convinced that Flynn’s statements were “material to any legitimate counterintelligence investigation” and that the FBI kept its investigation open “for the express purpose of trying to catch, lay a perjury trap for General Flynn.”
Barr stated, “I think the very important evidence here was that this was not a bona fide counterintelligence investigation, was that they were closing the investigation in December. They started that process. And on January 4th, they were closing it. And that when they heard about the phone call, which is — the FBI had the transcripts to, this — there’s no question as to what was discussed. The FBI knew exactly what was discussed. … So there was no mystery about the call. But they initially tried some theories of how they could open another investigation, which didn’t fly. And then they found out that they had not technically closed the earlier investigation. And they kept it open for the express purpose of trying to catch, lay a perjury trap for General Flynn.”
Barr later addressed Flynn’s guilty plea by stating, “Well, you know, people sometimes plead to things that turn out not to be crimes. … And the Department of Justice is not persuaded that this was material to any legitimate counterintelligence investigation. So, it was not a crime.”
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