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William Barnett, an FBI special agent, was interviewed on Sept. 17 (2020) by Jeffrey Jensen, a U.S. attorney in Missouri who is leading a Justice Department review of the case against Flynn. Barnett, who worked out of the FBI's Washington field office, was the lead investigator on the Flynn component of Crossfire Hurricane. Barnett told Jensen and his team that he believed the collusion theory was "opaque," with little to no evidence of criminal activity.Others had similar intuitions, calling it a nightmare:
Barnett drafted a memo from the FBI's Washington Field Office on Jan. 4, 2017 that recommended closing the counterintelligence investigation. He believed Crossfire Razor was "problematic" and could result in an inspector general's investigation.
Barnett remained on the case, and would eventually join the special counsel's team, which was formed on May 17, 2017 in the wake of James Comey's firing as FBI director.
"There was a lack of letting the evidence lead the investigation and more the attitude of 'the evidence is there we just have to find it.'"
The messages were culled from the FBI's internal "Lync" messaging platform. The employees are not identified in the document dump, though they appear to have had detailed knowledge of the probe.Trump had something to say about the revelations: the FBI targeted him for a "coup".
One exchange suggests that an FBI official ordered the investigation of Flynn, whose code name was "Crossfire Razor," to be closed on Nov. 8, 2016. The time stamp for the message is 5:42 p.m., which would have been hours before Donald Trump pulled an upset victory over Hillary Clinton in the presidential election.
One analyst wrote that investigators had "put out traces" and "tripwires to community" and found "nothing." "We didn't find anything else from the investigation about him," the analyst wrote, according to the court filing.
Flynn's lawyers said in the court filing that the messages show that investigators used National Security Letters as "a ruse" to extend the investigation. The documents are the fifth production of records provided to Flynn's legal team since Attorney General William Barr ordered a review of the investigation in January.
The Justice Department filed a motion to withdraw charges against Flynn on May 7, citing the discovery of FBI notes and memos that had not been given to Flynn's lawyers. Barr has said that he believes the FBI under James Comey set a "perjury trap" for Flynn.
The new documents were disclosed in a federal court filing on Thursday by Sidney Powell, defense attorney for former Trump adviser Michael Flynn. Seizing on the new release, the president ran a victory lap at a campaign rally in Florida, telling the crowd the FBI had been "caught" attempting a "coup." Trump remarked:
"Today a trove of text messages was released from FBI agents involved in the Russian witch hunt. You gotta see this. These people are scum. They were trying to do a coup. And we've caught them before that, we caught them spying on our nation... Never forget: they are coming after me because I'm fighting for you."
Sources told the Times that Durham is comparing the FBI's investigation into alleged bribery at the Clinton Foundation with the investigation into President Trump's 2016 campaign's communications with Russian adversaries.See also:
Those involved with the investigation described the move to compare the two as "unusual" and suggested a political motive. Barr and other supporters of the president have said the two investigations show a "double standard" the FBI upheld leading up to the 2016 election.
"There was a clear double standard by the Department of Justice and F.B.I. when it came to the Trump and Clinton campaigns in 2016," Sen Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in an August statement.
"has sent funds to non-resident alien women in the United States who are citizens of Russia and Ukraine and who have subsequently wired funds they have received from Hunter Biden to individuals located in Russia and Ukraine. The records also note that some of these transactions are linked to what 'appears to be an Eastern European prostitution or human trafficking ring.' "The allegations are contained in a footnote to a section of the report that details potential "criminal concerns and extortion threats" involving Hunter Biden and other members of the Biden family.
"extensive public reporting concerning Hunter Biden's alleged involvement with prostitution services. Records on file with the Committees do not directly confirm or refute these individual reports. However, they do confirm that Hunter Biden sent thousands of dollars to individuals who have either: 1) been involved in transactions consistent with possible human trafficking; 2) an association with the adult entertainment industry; or 3) potential association with prostitution."
Comment: See also: