A bipartisan Senate duo is asking for the Justice Department to release details and transcripts that triggered the fall of Michael Flynn, the President Donald Trump’s national security adviser who was fired Monday.
Sens. Chuck Grassley and Dianne Feinstein, the top Republican and Democrat respectively on the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote to the Justice Department and FBI on Wednesday to ask for a briefing in two weeks along with the transcripts of Flynn’s call with the Russian ambassador in December that ultimately led to his downfall.
Flynn spoke with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition and discussed, among other things, American sanctions against his country — and then withheld information from Vice President Mike Pence about the call. It is a breach of protocol for an incoming administration to discuss foreign policy, particularly with an adversary, before taking office.
“(Media) reports raise substantial questions about the content and context of Mr. Flynn’s discussions with Russian officials, the conclusions reached by the Justice Department and the actions it took in response, as well as possible leaks of classified information by current and former government employees,” Grassley and Feinstein wrote in the letter, which is addressed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Jim Comey, the director of the FBI.
In addition to the briefing and transcript, the pair is seeking the FBI report “summarizing the intercepted calls.”
Flynn, who on Wednesday had his access to classified information suspended, is also likely to be the subject of an investigation by the Senate.
