Former President Barack Obama slammed the Justice Department for abandoning its prosecution of President Trump’s ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn, saying it puts “the rule of law is at risk.”
Mr. Obama’s comments came Friday night while privately talking to ex-members of his administration. A tape of the conversation was leaked to Yahoo News, which first reported the former president’s comments Saturday morning.
“The news over the last 24 hours I think has been somewhat downplayed — about the Justice Department dropping charges against Micheal Flynn,” he said in a web conversation with members of the Obama Alumni Association.
“And the fact that there is no precedent that anyone can find for someone who has been charged with perjury getting off scot-free. 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,” Mr. Obama continued.
The former president misstated the charges against Flynn, who was accused of making false statements to the FBI, not perjury. In 2017, Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the then-Russian ambassador but later sought to withdraw his guilty plea.
Mr. Obama cited the Flynn case as a critical reason to vote for his former Vice President Joseph R. Biden in the November election against President Trump.
“So I am hoping that all of you feel the same sense of urgency that I do,” he told the group.
A former president criticizing internal Justice Department decisions is stunning as former chief executives rarely wade into political waters.
Mr. Obama’s comments were among his strongest attacks on the Trump administration so far, suggesting that he will become more outspoken as this year’s election approaches.
On Thursday, the Justice Department dropped the case against Flynn saying the FBI’s 2017 interview with Flynn was not conducted with “a legitimate investigative basis” because three weeks earlier the bureau sought to close the probe saying it had not uncovered any wrongdoing.
Anti-Trump former FBI agent Peter Strzok pushed to keep the case open, according to bombshell court documents released earlier this month.
Mr. Trump has pointed the finger at the Obama administration for the Flynn prosecution, which has repeatedly blasted as corrupt.
“He was targeted by the Obama administration to try to take down a president,” the president said of Flynn on Thursday. “And I hope a big price is going to be paid.”
“The Obama administration Justice Department was a disgrace, and they got caught. It’s treason,” Mr. Trump continued.
