Comey: “I Sent FBI to Flynn, Broke Protocol and Got Away with It” (Video)

DID COMEY LURE FLYNN INTO A PERJURY TRAP?
Video shows ex-FBI Director Comey explaining how he:
* Kept Flynn unrepresented by legal counsel and unaware of the true nature of the meeting
* Violated protocols and policies which are always in place regardless if the administration is new or not.
* Took advantage of fledgling Trump Administration

REPORT: Ex-FBI Director Comey Explains How He Took Advantage of Fledgling Trump Administration:
“Former FBI Director James Comey, speaking to an appreciative audience in New York on Sunday [12/9/2018], told NBC’s Nicole Wallace that he sent two FBI agents to visit then-National Security Adviser Mike Flynn at the White House on January 24, 2017, because he figured he could get away with it,” reported CNS News.

VIDEO & NOTES TO PONDER:

* Comey proudly stated he broke the rules…because he could:

FROM VIDEO ABOVE:

WALLACE: “You look at this White House now, and it’s hard to imagine two FBI agents ending up in the State room. How did that happen?”

COMEY: “I sent them.” [Audience celebrated.]

COMEY: “Something we’ve — I probably wouldn’t have done or maybe gotten away with in a more organized investigation — a more organized administration.

* Did Flynn think the FBI agents were there as colleagues/co-workers and not as investigators (where he was the target), and thus, Flynn wasn’t exact in his recollection of his phone conversations weeks prior?
On the video, Comey acknowledged they didn’t tell Flynn the reason for the FBI visit:

FROM VIDEO ABOVE:

WALLACE: “What did he [Flynn] think they were coming over there for?”

COMEY: “I don’t think he knew. I know we didn’t tell him.”

* They wanted Flynn unguarded, so they made him think this was a normal chat between pals:

FROM VIDEO ABOVE:

COMEY: “And I thought, it’s early enough, let’s just send a couple of guys over.”

“And so we placed a call to Flynn, said, hey, we’re sending a couple of guys over. Hope you’ll talk to them. He said, sure. Nobody else was there. They interviewed him in a conference room at the White House Situation Room, and he lied to them. And that’s what he’s now pled guilty to.”

FROM COURT DOCUMENTS:
Mueller’s court documents (attachment B, page 4 of 6), show they decided not to tell Flynn it was an investigation:

Before the interview, McCabe, [redacted] and others decided the agents would not warn Flynn that it was a crime to lie during an FBI interview because they wanted Flynn to be relaxed, and they were concerned that giving the warnings might adversely affect the rapport.

* Flynn was unguarded, jocular and did not lie, according to FBI agents who talked to Flynn
FROM COURT DOCUMENTS:
Mueller’s court documents (attachment B, page 4 of 6), show the FBI agents who talked to Flynn on January 24, 2017, found that Flynn was:

“relaxed and jocular…unguarded and clearly saw FBI agents as allies…talked about various subjects, including hotels…the President’s knack for interior design….Flynn was so talkative… [FBI agents] Strzok and [redacted] both had the impression at the time that Flynn was not lying…The agents left Flynn in a collegial, positive way.“

* Video above shows the audience celebrating Comey’s remarks about violating protocols and rules.
“Those same liberals applauding him wildly would presumably be appalled if a police detective proudly described how he prevented a criminal suspect from speaking to a lawyer simply because he could,” points out Jonathan Turley [see below].

ANALYSIS:
Constitutional Law Professor Jonathan Turley wrote a great critique of Comey’s admission on TheHill.com: ‘No glory in James Comey getting away with his abuse of FBI power‘ (12/15/2018)

[Emphasis added]

“I probably wouldn’t have … gotten away with it.” Those words this week from former FBI Director James Comey could well be chiseled in marble as his epitaph. He was explaining another violation of bureau policy during his tenure…

What was shocking was not that Comey violated protocols or policies again but the reaction of the audience to his admission. In describing how he set up a critical meeting with Michael Flynn, former national security adviser to President Trump, the audience was audibly thrilled by his cleverness in keeping Flynn unrepresented by legal counsel and unaware of the true nature of the meeting. […]

… Now Comey has again admitted to violating rules and protocols, by setting up Flynn. […]

What was Comey’s justification? Because he could. He refers to the “process” of other administrations. That process, however, was still in place and did not change. Moreover, he noted that he thought he could get away with it because this was “early” in the administration. That is not principle. >It is opportunism. He was supposed to work through the Justice Department and not simply follow the rules only if he might be caught breaking them. […]

… There was nothing noble in Comey seeking to reduce the chance that Flynn might have legal counsel. Those same liberals applauding him wildly would presumably be appalled if a police detective proudly described how he prevented a criminal suspect from speaking to a lawyer simply because he could. […]

Comey seemed to delight the audience by taking credit for keeping Flynn in the dark about the FBI interview. When Wallace asked what Flynn thought the FBI agents wanted, Comey replied, “I don’t think he knew. I know we didn’t tell him.” Actually, Comey didn’t tell anyone. Not the White House counsel, not the acting attorney general, not the Justice Department. He “just sent a couple of guys over” to the White House because he could “get away with it.”

RUSH TRANSCRIPT: COMEY’S ADMISSION ON HOW THEY TRICKED MICHAEL FLYNN FOR FBI INTERVIEW:
Place: 92nd Street Y (cultural center) on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, NY
Date: Sunday, December 9, 2018
Host: NBC’s Nicole Wallace
Full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xqGu66D6VU
or https://www.facebook.com/92ndstreetY/videos/2196969490544212/

WALLACE: “You look at this White House now, and it’s hard to imagine two FBI agents ending up in the State room. How did that happen?”

COMEY: “I sent them.” [Audience celebrated.]

COMEY: “Something we’ve — I probably wouldn’t have done or maybe gotten away with in a more organized investigation — a more organized administration. In the George W. Bush administration, for example, or the Obama administration.”

“The protocol, two men that all of us perhaps have increased appreciation for over the last two years.” [Audience applauded.]

“And in both those administrations there was process. And so if the FBI wanted to send agents into the White House itself to interview a senior official, you would work through the White House Counsel and there’d be discussions and approvals and it would be there. And I thought, it’s early enough, let’s just send a couple of guys over.”

“And so we placed a call to Flynn, said, hey, we’re sending a couple of guys over. Hope you’ll talk to them. He said, sure. Nobody else was there. They interviewed him in a conference room at the White House Situation Room, and he lied to them. And that’s what he’s now pled guilty to.”

WALLACE: “What did he think they were coming over there for?”

COMEY: “I don’t think he knew. I know we didn’t tell him.”

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