David Harsanyi explains at National Review Online why the dismissal of federal charges against Michael Flynn represents a win for the rule of law.
“There is no precedent that anybody can find for someone who has been charged with perjury just getting off scot-free,” former president Barack Obama reportedly told members of the Obama Alumni Association. “That’s the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic — not just institutional norms — but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk. And when you start moving in those directions, it can accelerate pretty quickly as we’ve seen in other places.”
This is, at best, shameless projection.
We now know that the Obama administration engaged in unprecedented abuses of power, not merely in its persistent attempts to circumvent the other branches of the United States government, but in its weaponizing of government institutions for partisan ends, including our intelligence agencies.
Flynn, notwithstanding Obama’s contention, was never charged with “perjury” — a crime which entails lying under oath. Flynn faced trumped-up charges related to a conversation in which he allegedly misled FBI agents. Flynn, who didn’t even know he was under investigation, was entrapped by agents conducting an inquiry devoid of any credible evidence.
The Obama administration already had recordings of Flynn’s calls with the Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and knew that the incoming national-security adviser, who spoke to numerous heads of state, did not undermine American interests — which often change, and are a matter of interpretation — nor had he agreed to drop Russian sanctions on Donald Trump’s behalf.
Not even the agents who conducted the interview believed that Flynn had willfully intended to deceive them. Flynn was only charged ten months after the conversation, and only to keep the bogus Russia collusion investigation going.
Even then, the FBI hid exculpatory evidence from Flynn and his lawyers. …
