Rehabilitating Michael Flynn

Republicans are once again trying to warp reality to excuse President Trump's delusions.

President Trump and Republicans are outraged over the unjust treatment of former National Security Advisor, former general Michael Flynn by Obama's FBI. They have Attorney General Barr's dismissing of the prosecution of Flynn as proof that Flynn was mistreated and set-up by the FBI.

This story is more long and more involved then can be discussed here, but I'm dismayed by several things.

What should the FBI have done when they found the Russian's had tried to interfere with our elections? Factor in the public appeals by Trump for Russia to provide him help, the unusual and considerable number of contacts between the campaign and Russia and the overwhelming electronic proof that the Russians were helping Trump. I would be outraged if they hadn't opened an investigation, including the actions of Flynn. If the investigation spiraled out of control, and I don't think it did, it is was certainly in part because there clearly was a lot to investigate and involved people at the highest levels of our government.

But what now bothers me about the rehabilitation of Flynn is the attempt to completely forget the basic facts.

Flynn had contact with the Russian ambassador and then lied about it to the FBI and Vice-President Pence. President Trump cited these lies when he fired Flynn. And then to make it worse, Flynn lied to federal prosecutors and a federal judge.

When Flynn denied his contact with the ambassador, one group knew for sure he was not telling the truth, the Russians. This is a classic example of how to turn a person into a spy. The Russians could then go to Flynn and say something like, “We know you lied about having secret contacts with us. We won't tell anyone about this, but we could use a favor.”. And then they ask for some small favor. They do this a few more times with the requests being more significant each time. It becomes harder and harder for Flynn to say no. At some point they have enough evidence that, if released, would cause Flynn to be locked up forever. Then what would they expect the National Security Advisor to do for them?

If Flynn is so innocent, why did he repeatedly lie?

Who knows, the Russians may have more damaging information about Flynn that we don't know about . If they do, would they hesitate to use it to coerce him? And yet President Trump and Vice-President Pence say they would be open to hiring Flynn again. Really?

The FBI was right to be concerned about these guys. I certainly am.