Much of the declassified information concerns a Jan. 5, 2017, Oval Office meeting. According to the FBI’s 302 interview report, on that date, “Yates, along with then-FBI Director James Comey, then-CIA Director John Brennan, and then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper were at the White House to brief members of the Obama Administration on the classified intelligence Community Assessment on Russian Activities in Recent U.S. Elections.” Rice, Obama’s then-national security adviser, and others were also present, including Biden, according to an email Rice later sent to herself.
According to Yates, “After the briefing, Obama dismissed the group but asked Yates and Comey to stay behind.” Then, “Obama started by saying he had ‘learned of the information about Flynn’ and his conversation with [Russian Ambassador Sergey] Kislyak about sanctions.” Yates’ 302 further stated, “Obama specified he did not want any additional information on the matter but was seeking information on whether the White House should be treating Flynn any differently, given the information.”
The mention of Flynn “and his conversation with Kislyak about sanctions,” was in reference to intercepted telephone calls between Flynn and the Russian ambassador in late December and early January. However, as the now-declassified transcripts of those calls establish, Flynn did not discuss sanctions with Kislyak, but had instead discussed the Obama administration’s decision to expel Russian diplomats from the United States.
The distinction between sanctions and the expulsion of Russian diplomats proves significant to the criminal charge later wrongly levied against Flynn by the special counsel’s office. But it is Obama’s knowledge of the calls — and the details of Flynn’s conversations with Kislyak — and not Obama’s misrepresentation of the content of those discussions that is important to understanding the then-president’s possible involvement in the soft coup attempt.
ConservativeChick
Article URL : https://thefederalist.com/2020/06/10/new-russiagate-subpoenas-probe-depths-of-obama-administration-corruption-in-flynn-ambush/