Flynn case boosts Trump's bid to undo Russia probe narrative

 When Michael Flynn was forced from White House, Vice President Mike Pence said he was disappointed national security viser h misled him about his talks with Russian ambassor. President Donald Trump called deception unacceptable.

w Pence says he’d welcome Flynn back to ministration, calling him a “patriot,” as Trump prounces him exonerated.

What a difference three years makes. Justice Department’s move to dismiss criminal case against Flynn marks ar step in his transformation, in eyes of Trump and his allies, from rogue viser to victim of runaway law enforcement.

dismissal rewrites narrative of case that Trump's own Justice Department h vanced for last three years in a way that former law enforcement officials say downplays legitimate national security concerns y believe Flynn posed and consequences of lies he pleed guilty to telling.

It's been swept up in a broer push by Trump and his Republican allies to reframe Russia investigation as a “deep state” plot to sabot his ministration, setting st for a fresh onslaught of election year attacks on past and present Democratic officials and law enforcement leers, too.

“His goal is that by end of this, you’re just t really sure what happened and at some gut level eugh Americans say, ‘It’s kind of messy,’” said Princeton University presidential historian Julian Zelizer.

Scrambling to man

Trump has tried to rally his supporters around claim, aiming to revive enthusiasm among voters disappointed by his handling of pandemic. He went on a weekend tweetstorm and used first 20 minutes of a recent Fox News interview to attack Obama ministration rar than offer updates on pandemic.

An investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller found Russians interfered in 2016 election on Trump’s behalf, though it did t allege illegal coordination with Trump's campaign. Mueller examined multiple instances of potential obstruction of justice and pointedly ted that he was unable to exonerate Trump.

But visers believe painting previous ministration as corrupt can distract from a pandemic crisis that has crippled ecomy and killed tens of thousands of people in U.S. and can prove an effective line of attack against Trump’s Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, who was Obama’s vice president, according to four current and former ministration officials and Republicans close to White House t authorized to discuss matter by name.

hope is to revive some of pre-pandemic arguments to cast Trump, even w as an incumbent, as political outsider being attacked by establishment.

Trump has increasingly lashed out in year since Mueller's report did t accuse him of a crime or allege a criminal conspiracy between his campaign and Russia. Revelations since n have exposed certain problems with early days of FBI's probe, including errors and omissions in applications to surveil an ex-Trump campaign viser.

Republicans in Congress and inside ministration have echoed attacks and scrutiny.

National intelligence director Richard Grenell has declassified a list of names of Obama ministration officials who reportedly asked for Flynn's identity to be unredacted in intelligence documents, while Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said in a Senate floor speech that “rule of law is at risk if federal government can get away with violating Constitution to do what y did to Lt. Gen. Flynn."'

Republicans have generated a “thick fog of propaganda," Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland told Associated Press. “Trump and his enablers in Congress have a strategy of never mitting anything and always going on attack."

Attorney General William Barr has said dropping case against Flynn, who pleed guilty to lying to FBI about having discussed sanctions with Russian ambassor during presidential transition, was in interests of justice. department says FBI h basis in interviewing Flynn about his “entirely appropriate” calls and that any imperfect statements he me during questioning were t material to broer counterintelligence investigation into Trump campaign.

But decision stunned former law enforcement officials involved in case, including some who say Justice Department is rewriting history and omitting key context.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said FBI, in course of investigating wher Trump campaign h coordinated with Russia's election interference, was obligated to interview Flynn about conversations he h h with Russian ambassor over sanctions imposed for that very interference.

And because White House officials, including Pence, were inaccurately asserting that Flynn h never discussed sanctions with Russian Ambassor Sergey Kislyak, U.S. officials were concerned Flynn could be vulnerable to blackmail since Russia also knew what was discussed.

“After all, Mr. Flynn was set to become national security viser, and it was untenable that Russia — which intelligence community h just assessed h sought to interfere in U.S. presidential election — might have lever over him,” Mary McCord, Justice Department's top national security official at time, wrote in a New York Times opinion piece in which she accused Barr of misrepresenting her viewpoints.

She ackwledged an internal quarrel over wher to disclose details of Flynn’s calls to White House and about FBI's decision to interview Flynn without alerting Justice Department leership. But she said re was disagreement that Flynn was a potential counterintelligence threat.

A judge has yet to rule on Justice Department's dismissal request, opening door Tuesday to outside individuals and groups to file briefs expressing ir opinions.

But in meantime, Flynn's revival in Trump's orbit is perhaps t surprising.

From moment he took st at 2016 Republican National Convention and led a “Lock her up!” chant aimed at Democrat Hillary Clinton, Flynn has been exceedingly popular among many Trump supporters. For many on right, his forced resignation and guilty plea only ded to his stature as a martyr and cause celebre.

Flynn himself may be part of effort to weaponize his case.

Though his legal future remains uncertain, discussions have alrey been held about potentially welcoming him back to a post within ministration or reelection campaign, according to officials. thing has been finalized.