Ari Fleischer: Obama administration committed ‘worst cardinal sin’ of politics
Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer discusses the Russia investigation from the Obama administration’s point of view on ‘America’s Newsroom.’
Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said Wednesday that a newly released 2017 email has exposed former National Security Adviser Susan Rice's "total lie" about the Michael Flynn case.
“Of course she knew. She put it into writing that she knew,” Fleischer told “America’s Newsroom," referring to a PBS interview in which Rice claimed she knew "nothing" about it.
Fleischer argued that FBI officials took questionable steps against Flynn and the incoming administration based on a faulty notion that the Trump team included "criminals" or spies.
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Fleischer highlighted that former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe did not rule out that President Trump was a “Russian asset” when questioned about it by CNN.
“He said it could be possible. That’s how bad these guys were, that’s how bad their judgment was and they're the ones that set off this whole collusion false narrative," said Fleischer.
A newly released email appeared to indicate Rice had knowledge of the surveillance that took place that led to the "unmasking" of then-incoming National Security Adviser (NSA) Flynn from his communications with the then-Russian ambassador.
The email, which was written on Jan. 20, 2017, documented a Jan. 5 Oval Office meeting with then-President Barack Obama and others, during which he provided guidance on how law enforcement needed to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race. Parts of it were released previously, but the section on then-FBI Director James Comey's response had been classified as "TOP SECRET" until now.
Comey suggested to Obama that the National Security Council (NSC) might not want to pass "sensitive information related to Russia" to Flynn, according to a newly declassified email that Flynn's predecessor sent herself on Inauguration Day.
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The section showed that Comey affirmed to Obama he was proceeding "by the book," and went on to discuss concerns about Flynn's known conversations with Russia's ambassador at the time -- conversations that would play a role later in the criminal case against Flynn.
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Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., made public on Wednesday a list of Obama officials who purportedly requested to “unmask” the identity of Flynn, who at the time was Trump’s incoming national security adviser. The list was declassified by Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell and sent to Grassley and Johnson.
The roster featured top-ranking figures, including then-Vice President Joe Biden, then-FBI Director James Comey, then-CIA Director John Brennan, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and Obama’s then-chief of staff Denis McDonough.
Fox News' Gregg Re contributed to this report.
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