Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Transcripts Released of Flynn's Calls With Russian Diplomat

Associated Press

   WASHINGTON - The Trump administration's new national intelligence
   director waded into political waters in his first week on the job,
   declassifying documents that allies of the president say bolster their
   contention that former national security adviser Michael Flynn was
   wrongly pursued.

   The extraordinary decision to release transcripts of Flynn's calls with
   a foreign country's ambassador, a closely guarded secret for more than
   three years, is part of an ongoing Trump administration effort to
   disclose information from the Russia investigation in hopes of
   suggesting that Obama-era officials acted improperly.

   The transcripts of calls with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador at
   the time, provide opportunities for partisans on both sides to advance
   their perspectives of the investigation.

   They appear to show, as prosecutors have alleged, that Flynn urged
   Kislyak to refrain from escalating tensions with the U.S. in response
   to newly imposed sanctions against Russia. Flynn pleaded guilty of
   lying to the FBI about that call.

   But Republicans who maintain that Flynn was simply trying to avoid
   aggravating the situation with the Kremlin quickly pointed to the
   transcripts to say the calls were proper. Trump's Justice Department
   dismissed the case this month, saying the FBI didn't have a basis to
   question Flynn in the first place.

.