New text messages released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Wednesday evening suggest that FBI agents involved in investigating Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign bought professional liability insurance for fear of being exposed and sued.
The text messages, reported by The Federalist and included in court filings by Sidney Powell, were part of a new batch of documents released as exculpatory evidence in the prosecution of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. The evidence was released after a review of the case by U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Jensen, ordered by Attorney General William Barr.
In one text, an agent speculated that they would be “screwed” when a new attorney general began asking questions about the investigation, possibly after leaks to the New York Times or other media outlets.One text, dated Jan. 10, 2017, read: “we all went and purchased professional liability insurance.” Other texts discussed the rules for reimbursement of that insurance.
Powell also pointed to text messages that suggest FBI agents believed that some officials in the bureau were biased in favor of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election in arguing that the case against her client should be dismissed.
Other text messages suggest that FBI agents deliberately kept the case open despite finding no evidence against Flynn. In one exchange, agents appeared to comment on a briefing that in the Oval Office on January 5, 2017, with then-President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and several senior law enforcement and intelligence officials present.
One text reported that “people here are scrambling for info to support certain things and its a mad house.” Another suggested that “Trump was right,” a comment that may have referred to Trump’s Jan. 3, 2017, tweet saying the FBI was delaying a briefing on alleged Russian interference in the election because it needed more time to “build a case.”
Powell said that the FBI’s “hideous abuse of power and travesty of justice” meant that the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) request to dismiss the case against Flynn should be granted.
Flynn had previously pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, but withdrew his plea after more exculpatory evidence emerged.
Judge Emmet Sullivan has resisted that request, fighting Powell and the DOJ in the courts to keep the case open.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.