emptywheel

Graham and Grassley Are Seeing Christopher Steele's Ghost Where Mike Flynn Lurks https://www.emptywheel.net/2018/02/12/graham-and-grassley-are-seeing-christopher-steeles-ghost-where-mike-flynn-lurks/ …

1) I think you're exactly right about the January 5th meeting being about Flynn and likely nothing to do with Steele, however I think you're ascribing completely benign motivations behind the Flynn operation.

2) Unless Yates/comey were pursuing a very strained interpretation of the antiquated Logan Act, there's really no reason for them to have gone after Flynn in the first place.

3) Interesting that we were kept in the dark about the content of the Flynn conversation, after it's occurrence was illegally leaked (likely by Yates).

4) we now know that the conversations were about reaching out to UN amb to oppose Isreal condemnation resolution, and a convo about Russia not overreacting to Obama sanctions. (again nothing illegal)

5) yet only a week or two later, Strzok conducts ambush interview with Flynn over the convos. He would've already have known what he spoke about based on the surveillance, yet he interviewed him anyways. Based on the 302, Flynn lied by saying "he couldn't recall".

3 weeks later. After Flynn publicly lied about what he had been doing. You've seen the 302?

I don't think that chronology is right. The Strzok interview came before leak and Pence denial. I'm not totally sure though, I'll check on it... The Strzok 302 is what the Flynn plea is based on.