Michael Flynn, Barack Obama and Trump’s claims of ‘treason’

On Jan. 5, 2017, President Barack Obama received a briefing from intelligence officials in the Oval Office about the investigation into Russian efforts to influence the outcome of the 2016 election in favor of Donald Trump. When the briefing was over, he asked Vice President Joe Biden, FBI Director James B. Comey, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and national security adviser Susan E. Rice to stay behind for an additional discussion about incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn.

What happened next is the subject of intense speculation by President Trump’s supporters. Citing no specific evidence, Trump has claimed Obama engaged in “treason.”

In recent days, Flynn’s lawyers released notes, apparently taken by former FBI deputy assistant director Peter Strzok, about the meeting. The notes are cryptic — and Strzok’s lawyer told The Fact Checker that Strzok did not attend the meeting. So that means the notes may recount what someone else — perhaps Comey — told him about the meeting. Continue reading.