prosecutor paul butler. apparently left for michael flynn by donald trump s attorney, he said it would not surprise me if he went on to deal with the government. if it implicates the president we have a national security interest. hem it is like a mob movie. it is like obstruction of justice. they could not say more plainly what their goals are. it is to protect the president, it is to keep their stories in sync so the president doesn t get in trouble and the president s own personal state s attorney reaching into the investigation. and they had a joint defense agreement. and at a certain point they didn t. i think it is flynn s own attorneys realizing that if they would proceed in that way, it
still remains. the special counsel s report said that message was left shortly after flynn took himself out of a joint defense agreement with trump. a federal judge is now demanding that recording and tonight the washington post additionally reports the judge has ordered prosecutors make public, meaning we ll be able to read this, a transcript of a phone call that flynn tried hard to hide. he was willing to lie to cover it up, his conversation with the russian ambassador kislyak in late 2016. this latest news will no doubt add to the pressure to hear from robert mueller directly in testimony before congress. the journal is reporting discussions over his appearance are stalled over questions about whether mueller s testimony will be limited by a white house claim of executive privilege. the journal further says attorney general william barr told the paper, it s bob s call whether he wants to testify.
flynn s lawyer says we can t talk to you anymore basically, we re not part of this joint defense agreement. we know that the president s lawyer comes back and says the president will see that as a hostile action that you re taking. elliott, is this anything more than interesting detail, some of which may have been redacted? again, this was all information that mueller had to consider when he was making determinations he was making? it s interesting detail, but it s interesting detail that sort of shows the level of poor judgment exercise, both with respect to the willingness to play ftse with russia but also to obstruction of justice. what i also think this particularly showsis now a very strong case to be made before flynn coming before congress. even if not in public there will be testimony, at least in private meetings with congress and transcribed interviews. he has a huge incentive to do. so he is still under a cooperation agreement. he hasn t been sentenced yet. and remember,
he or his lawyers, and we quote, received communications from persons connected to the administration or congress that could have affected both his willing nets to cooperate and the completeness of that cooperation. flynn is said to have provided a voicemail recording of one such communication. the mueller report does refer to a voicemail message left for flynn s attorneys late 2017 by an unidentified trump lawyer who says, if there s information that implicates the president, then we ve got a national security issue. so, you know, we need some kind of heads up. just for the sake of protecting all our interests if we can. remember what we ve always said about the president and his feelings toward flynn and that still remains. the special counsel s report said that message was left shortly after flynn took himself out of a joint defense agreement with trump. a federal judge is now demanding
multiple instances before and after his guilty plea in which he or his lawyers, and we quote, received communications from persons connected to the administration or congress that could have affected both his willingness to cooperate and the completeness of that cooperation. flynn is said to have provided a voicemail recording of one such communication. the mueller report does refer to a voicemail message left for flynn s attorneys late 2017 by an unidentified trump lawyer who says, if there s information that implicates the president, then we ve got a national security issue. so, you know, we need some kind of heads up. just for the sake of protecting all our interests if we can. remember what we ve always said about the president and his feelings toward flynn and that still remains. the special counsel s report said that message was left shortly after flynn took himself out of a joint defense agreement with trump.