Report: FBI documents put Obama himself in 'Obamagate' narrative

Barack Obama (Video screenshot)

Evidence of Barack Obama's role in the FBI's prosecution of former national security adviser Michael Flynn is "getting stronger," according to an investigator with direct knowledge of the Justice Department's review of the handling of the case.

"The bureau knew it did not have evidence to justify that Flynn was either a criminal or counterintelligence threat and should have shut the case down," the source said, reports John Solomon at Just the News.

"But the perception that Obama and his team would not be happy with that outcome may have driven the FBI to keep the probe open without justification and to pivot to an interview that left some agents worried involved entrapment or a perjury trap," said the source, who asked not to be identified.

Solomon reported the investigators are trying to determine "whether Obama's well-known disdain for Flynn, a career military intelligence officer, influenced the decision by the FBI leadership to reject its own agent's recommendation to shut down a probe of Flynn in January 2017 and instead pursue an interview where agents might catch him in a lie."

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Shortly before Obama left office, Solomon noted, lead FBI investigator Peter Strzok texted bureau lawyer Lisa Page, his paramour, about then-FBI assistant director William Priestap's concerns about sharing information with the White House. Priestap feared the information "would be politically weaponized if outgoing Director of National Intelligence shared [intercepted phone calls that involved Flynn] with the White House and President Obama, a well-known Flynn critic."

Strzok wrote to Page regarding Priestap's worries: "Doesn't want Clapper giving [investigation] cuts to WH. All political, just shows our hand and potentially makes enemies."

Solomon posted the messages, pointing out they were never released to the public by the FBI.

He said the messages now have "taken on much more significance to both federal and congressional investigators in recent weeks as the Justice Department has requested that Flynn's conviction be thrown out and his charges of lying to the FBI ... dismissed."

There are multiple investigations into the handling of the Flynn case, including by U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen of Missouri, acting as a special prosecutor for the DOJ. There's another by the FBI inspection division, three by Senate committees and one by House Republicans.

The unidentified investigator told Solomon more interviews will be needed to determine the influence of Obama's disdain for Flynn on the FBI.

Already, declassified documents show 39 outgoing Obama officials "sought to unmask Flynn's name in intelligence interviews between Election Day 2016 and Inauguration Day 2017, signaling a keen interest in Flynn's overseas calls."

And Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and others involved in the investigations believe there will be criminal referrals.

Solomon said investigators believe Flynn was not a subect early in the investigation of Trump-Russia collusion.

But he was targeted one day after Strzok and Page engaged "in their infamous text exchange about having an insurance policy just in case Trump should be elected."

FBI agents then began spying on Flynn, and within days, Page wrote to Strzok that Obama "wants to know everything we're doing."

After Trump won the election, Obama urged him not to hire Flynn.

Two weeks before Trump's inauguration, the FBI recommended closing the investigation of Flynn for lack of evidence, but Strzok kept it open.