Why Didn’t the FBI
Record the Flynn Interview?
Daily Signal,
by
Hans Von Spakovsky
&
Cully Stimson
Original Article
Posted By: Judy W.,
5/22/2020 5:41:49 AM
There are so many angles to the FBI-Michael Flynn imbroglio, and most have been covered in great depth across a divergent set of viewpoints. But one aspect that has not been covered, and that opens up a wider lens into FBI policy, is the fact that the FBI refuses to audiotape, much less videotape, interviews of witnesses or suspects such as Flynn.
That policy is counterproductive and makes no sense in 2020. The FBI needs to take itself out of the J. Edgar Hoover era and align itself with modern law enforcement best practices.
The FBI and DOJ don't want the accountability, but the defendants deserve to have their interviews recorded. Truth is crucial to justice!
(Police officers found that the body cameras that held them to a high level of accountability, often helped defend them and their actions, when falsely accused of abuse.)
35 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
PCMM 5/22/2020 6:56:57 AM (No. 418504)
Record the interviews? Until proven to be trustworthy, make them wear body cameras. Rats ... all of them.
35 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Banjo Willy 5/22/2020 7:18:04 AM (No. 418515)
Reply deleted by Staff. Please do not post in all caps.
17 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Lazyman 5/22/2020 7:20:07 AM (No. 418517)
How else can you frame people in order to keep your image up and in turn keep the funding up?
32 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Pearson365 5/22/2020 7:39:56 AM (No. 418535)
Since the FBI can’t find the original 302 summary of its Gen Flynn interview, why would Director Wray’s Bureau be able to find the recording and/or video of Flynn’s entrapment video?
22 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Bur Oak 5/22/2020 7:43:35 AM (No. 418538)
To answer the headline. Because the Federal Bureau of Investigation is not about investigation (truth). It is about maintaining the power and control of the elite. The judiciary in allowing the use of form 302's as evidence also indicates that they also are about maintaining the power and control of the elite. The country is in big trouble due to the widespread deep corruption of the institutions. Do you really think the Chinese virus lockdowns are/were about our health?
28 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
stablemoney 5/22/2020 7:55:41 AM (No. 418551)
The FBI never records their interviews. That way they can put whatever they want in the 302. All their "evidence" is made up by them.
34 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
BarryNo 5/22/2020 7:57:18 AM (No. 418552)
But then they couldnt pretend to hear something that wasn't said, and test out their creative writing skills.
Nevermind that the only way they catch 'some crooks' is through these talents.
Mind you, I have a great deal of respect for FBI rank and file, but it seems to me, if the higher ups dont like their attitude, they cant advance, and we can see what the FBI leaders are like.
4 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Strike3 5/22/2020 7:58:21 AM (No. 418554)
Why didn't Al Capone pay his income taxes?
Because they are both criminal enterprises and didn't want to leave a trail. The only difference is that Al wore better suits than these corrupt punks in Washington.
16 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Gruntmedic 5/22/2020 8:03:00 AM (No. 418560)
You can't change things if recorded.
15 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
MickTurn 5/22/2020 8:08:12 AM (No. 418567)
How can they play their sick games without having 'Notes' that can be changed later to fit what they want it to say...I say everyone that has EVER had a hand in setting up anyone needs to be taken out and put in front of a firing squad. No trial necessary, they did it, they are GUILTY!
7 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
MattMusson 5/22/2020 8:22:10 AM (No. 418584)
Stan Lee said it best: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
The FBI and the DOJ have been found unworthy.
23 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
gone2pot 5/22/2020 8:38:44 AM (No. 418603)
Oooo, Oooo! I know why they didn't record the interview, teacher, and we've been seeing that reason why since January, 2017. It's so the talk shows and conservative news sites could talk and write endlessly about it, and the GOP could endlessly furrow their concerned eyebrows about it, and our justice system do nothing about it!
7 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
3XALADY 5/22/2020 8:48:17 AM (No. 418614)
I have no respect for the rank and file FBI. They stand silent. What have they done to show they deserve our respect. Clean the lot of them out and start over.
23 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
MDConservative 5/22/2020 8:56:55 AM (No. 418627)
Flynn was a fool - he agreed to talk to the boys, he failed to make proper notifications within the Transition Team (i.e. Mike Pence), he met them without even a witness, let alone counsel, and then LIED to Mike Pence, who recommended "resignation" to PDT.
Flynn then stood accused, secured excellent counsel, stood charged before the court, and entered into plea negotiations to protect his son. He pleaded GUILTY to a charge of lying after negotiations were concluded, and cooperated with the investigation. For TWO YEARS and on TWO occasions he lied to the court under oath by falsely admitting his guilt in the crime charged.
NOW, he is stuck...and it has zip, zero, nothing to do with the original charge. It has to do with his apparent perjury in maintaining a guilty plea under oath before the court - a court in which he could have been tried and the plot exposed. But that didn't happen. And now he is facing a rightly POed judge for that. And it is a fair bet those DOJ prosecutors and FBI investigators are not out of the woods yet, either.
One other sidenote - DOJ did NOT exonerate Flynn in its dismissal motion. It said that with the tainted evidence it cannot prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. It doesn't matter. Flynn pleaded guilty in lieu of a trial. DOJ has nothing to "prove". The current drama has nothing to do with DOJ, either.
This legal odyssey stinks on both sides. Let's see what fire there is behind all that smoke. This potentially begins the unraveling one has been asking for since 2017. One would think the truth would be liberating. What's that about taking the most flak when you're over the target? I bet Judge Sullivan gets the idea, catching it from both sides. Isn't that curious?
5 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
john56 5/22/2020 9:14:12 AM (No. 418644)
Maybe the last poster has a point. Maybe Gen Flynn isn't 100% clean boy scout but hey, you and I might do the same that he did after being bankrupted and threatened jail time for his son. As Howie Carr says, if you're looking in the hall of justice, the only justice is in the halls.
But how come it's only our side that is dealing with expensive legal counsel (and in the case of Gen Flynn, flawed counsel), criminal trials and jail and the deep state plotters are benefitting from book deals, network news consulting contracts (they don't show up for free on CNN or MSNBC), speaking engagements and other perks.
I'm ready for the shoe to drop on the other side. Quickly. Perp walks and Roger Stone-style arrests at 6 am.
12 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
chillijilli 5/22/2020 9:15:16 AM (No. 418648)
This sounds like my HOA which sometimes hold meetings "not reduced to writing."
7 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
joew9 5/22/2020 9:21:02 AM (No. 418656)
There is a recording that exists. The one from the phone tap of the Russian ambassador to Flynn. Why can't we hear that to see if Flynn actually even discussed the sanctions at all. Flynn didn't remember it. So perhaps he actually didn't and the FBI is lying about it.
8 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
chillijilli 5/22/2020 9:32:19 AM (No. 418678)
Excuse 2nd post but I just thought of this.
FTA: Why doesn’t the FBI videotape, or at least audiotape, its interviews with witnesses and suspects?
If in fact it's true that the FBI doesn't video or audiotape interviews, you can believe they have teams of analysts TRANSCRIBING every word in the interview, carefully evaluating every voice inflection and body language. There IS a written record somewhere. But we won't get it if we ask instead for all video or audioTAPES.
7 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
bighambone 5/22/2020 9:34:59 AM (No. 418682)
By not doing audio recordings of FBI interviews, the FBI Agents conducting the interview gain a lot of “wiggle room” in reporting accurately what a subject or witness tells them. The FBI Agents can generate the slant that they desire in their written report, that is written later, after the Agents have time to discuss the content of the information generated in the interview, including their take on the demeanor, both mental and physical, of the person being interviewed.
If all FBI interviews were recorded it would serve to formalize the process in the minds of any smart people being interviewed, many who would not go forward with the interview without their lawyer being present, a circumstance that would eliminate a lot of the FBI Agent’s wiggle room. Anytime a person agrees to an interview with FBI Agents alone, that person is always going to be a disadvantage, as there are always going to be two FBI Agents doing the interviewing. Thus allowing the FBI Agents, if so disposed, to claim that person lied to them, exposing the person being interviewed to the criminal justice system, and if it is a politically based case, to the highly politicized federal courts. If they can frame Flynn, a retired three star General and the President’s National Security Advisor, imagine what they can do to just plain Joe from Kokomo!
9 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
PChristopher 5/22/2020 9:53:55 AM (No. 418702)
They didn't record it because they didn't want anything held against THEM in a court of law, that's why.
13 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
The Remnants 5/22/2020 10:44:44 AM (No. 418749)
I heard someone say when you talk to a lawyer; and it can be your own, you should always bring someone with you. Then afterwards, the lawyer cannot say they said something which they did not say, nor can they say they didn't say something which they did say. Effectively, you have your own witness for what went on in the meeting.
I believe that General Flynn asked if he should have an attorney present for a supposedly drop-by the White House casual meeting with the FBI, and he was told it was not necessary. So, the FBI did not want witnesses for what was said or not said in the meeting. And that's why they do not videotape or audiotape meetings. Why is this not a loss of someone's rights?
13 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
texaspast 5/22/2020 11:14:50 AM (No. 418766)
I used to say that there are two reasons investigators interview witnesses: first, it may be to find facts that may lead to the truth; second is to find facts that validate their previously determined outcome - facts that implicate the person they have already decided did it. Now I have to add a third reason: to create a criminal case where none existed before the interview. The lesson here is, and one I will always suggest to a client or anyone - first, don't talk to the FBI about ANYTHING without an attorney present; second, if you decide to ignore no. 1, YOU record the conversation. If the FBI will not allow you to record the conversation, refer back to no. 1.
8 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
Krause 5/22/2020 11:45:47 AM (No. 418791)
For the same reason Hillary used a private server as SOS.
9 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
MindMadeUp 5/22/2020 12:44:09 PM (No. 418843)
Specifically, they didn't record Flynn's interview, because they didn't want him to know it was an interview.
4 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
curious1 5/22/2020 12:58:57 PM (No. 418859)
#25, the way things are now, even with an attorney present (remember his covington lawyers?) don't talk to any LEs at any level, for any reason. They are not your friend and they aren't there to help you, they're there to help themselves. No good can possibly come from it and it then allows them to claim you said something you didn't. That's the sad state corruption produces when allowed to flourish within our state and national institutions.
4 people like this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
bighambone 5/22/2020 1:26:37 PM (No. 418887)
Remember when the FBI interviewed Hillary Clinton she was given the opportunity to bring along her lawyer-political operatives to view the interview and obviously to counsel her as they saw fit. That should tell you something!
5 people like this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
DVC 5/22/2020 2:15:56 PM (No. 418930)
They can't rewrite "what the interviewee said" if it is on video. THAT is why these are not recorded, pure and simple.
2 people like this.
Reply 29 - Posted by:
Right Time 5/22/2020 2:17:34 PM (No. 418933)
Because it is much more time efficient to prepare the 302 Forms ahead of the interview and then be able to publish them quickly--even before the interview is complete, if you so wish. This way there is no backlog of paperwork.
Look at Susan Rice. She got behind in her paperwork and had to record her meeting with Zippy more than a week later, and she had to miss President Trump's Inaugural Address.
2 people like this.
Reply 30 - Posted by:
RedWhite&Blue2 5/22/2020 2:24:40 PM (No. 418939)
FBI
Fraudulent Buncha Idiots
4 people like this.
Reply 31 - Posted by:
Samsquanch 5/22/2020 5:32:44 PM (No. 419070)
Give me a break, they probably destroyed the recording, but they definetly did one.
2 people like this.
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I can only conclude that all along the FBI has relied on lying and obfuscating for a long time. A higher power (such as the President) needs to make the FBI record its interviews.