Revisiting The Flynn/Kislyak Leak
Authored by Techno Fog via The Reactionary,
How I found out the Flynn/Kislyak leak took place on January 5, 2017.
Before I get to that, some brief words on the “unmasking” report commissioned by Attorney General Bill Barr and prepared by US Attorney John Bash – with a focus on the call between Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and Russian Ambassador Kislyak.
With respect to that call transcript, Flynn’s name was never “masked.” As Bash noted, “the FBI shared transcripts of the relevant [Flynn/Kislyak] communications with officials outside of the Bureau without masking General Flynn’s name.”
The FBI shared these transcripts with top-level FBI/DOJ officials – and perhaps members of the Obama White House. Who could have seen the transcripts? The list includes President Obama, Vice President Biden, FBI Director James Comey, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, all who were present at a meeting at the Obama White House to discuss General Flynn’s calls with the Russian Ambassador.
The Washington Post explains:
On Jan. 5, 2017, President Barack Obama received a briefing from intelligence officials in the Oval Office about the investigation into Russian efforts to influence the outcome of the 2016 election in favor of Donald Trump. When the briefing was over, he asked Vice President Joe Biden, FBI Director James B. Comey, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and national security adviser Susan E. Rice to stay behind for an additional discussion about incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn.
On that same day – January 5, 2017 – the Flynn/Kislyak call was leaked to Adam Entous of The Washington Post.
This leak was done by source(s) who “saw a transcript and described it to” Entous.
How do I know that?
Because Entous told me.
You can read the Flynn/Kislyak transcripts here.
The real focus should have been on who spoke with Entous. And we have a couple guesses on that front.
The primary suspect: Sally Yates.
MADDOW: So, obviously, the headline here and the lead graph are arresting, jarring. Why exactly did the acting attorney general, Sally Yates, conclude or surmise that the Russian government might be able to blackmail Mike Flynn, the national security adviser?
ENTOUS: Right. So what happened was when this intelligence first came in, which would be in late December, early January, you know, Yates saw the intelligence and was concerned that Flynn was potentially in violation of what is known as the Logan Act, which is a very obscure statute which would bar a nongovernment official from trying to influence another government`s policies. And so, that really was — she knew that that was not something that would be pursued in court. There wouldn`t be a prosecution based on the Logan Act.
I’m not sure we’ll ever have an answer. Bash didn’t look into the Flynn/Kislyak leak. And The New York Times reported the leak investigation – code name Operation Echo – closed without charges.
With the Operation Echo investigation being closed, there is a silver lining via FOIA. We’re making the request and will provide updates as they come.
We’ll be providing an update on Goodlander as the documents start rolling in.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 06/07/2022 – 22:05
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/Ffym6KQ Tyler Durden