As National Polls Show Trump Trailing Biden, He Doubles Down On ‘Obamagate’ Narrative

TOPLINE

As national polls show President Trump trailing Joe Biden, Trump— in a pre-taped interview with Fox Business that aired today—doubled down on his “Obamagate” narrative, discussing at length his suspicions over the Obama administration’s handling of the criminal case against Gen. Michael Flynn.

KEY FACTS

Surprising fact

Biden asked for the unmasked intelligence reports eight days before leaving office. It was also the same day the Washington Post published a column about Flynn’s phone calls with Russia, according to the Times. 

News peg

The “unmasking” of Flynn was triggered by a request to the acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell from two GOP senators, Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). “Unmasking” is a process in which a U.S. citizen’s identity is revealed to authorized government officials after information about that person was gathered in the course of a foreign intelligence investigation. The list of officials authorized also included former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former FBI Director James Comey, and former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough.

Key background

Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor, pled guilty in December 2017 to charges that he lied to the FBI about his communications with Russia’s ambassador at the time. He is one of six former Trump associates to be convicted as part of Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Flynn, however, remained to be sentenced⁠—and in early 2020, his legal team requested to revoke Flynn’s guilty plea, and accused the FBI of mishandling his case. The request was rejected. Attorney General Bill Barr on February 14 assigned an outside prosecutor to review Flynn’s case, a move considered to be highly unusual. This was followed by the DOJ moving to drop Flynn’s case May 7. Democrats were highly critical of the decision and pointed towards evidence of Flynn’s actions, along with claims that the DOJ has become politicized. The federal judge overseeing Flynn’s case is accepting opposition to the DOJ’s decision from legal experts and other third parties.

Further reading

Biden Among Those Who Requested ‘Unmasking’ Of Michael Flynn (Forbes)

Republicans Release Names of Obama-Era Officials in ‘Unmaskings’ That Revealed Flynn (New York Times)

Justice Department Drops Michael Flynn Case (Forbes)

Trump Administration Struggles To Explain What’s Criminal About ‘Obamagate’ (Forbes)

Michael Flynn Will Become 5th Trump Associate To Go To Prison If Judge Agrees With Prosecutors (Forbes)