Yesterday’s announcement that Lt. General Mike Flynn had entered a guilty plea to lying to the FBI was greeted joyfully by President Trump’s political opponents. They were even more pleased at the subsequent revelation that President Trump’s first National Security Advisor was prepared to testify that a senior campaign official had directed him to contact the Russian ambassador. Flynn’s outreach, however, was normal diplomatic practice for a presidential transition. The vicious partisan battle risks criminalizing diplomacy, just as we have seen the criminalization of policy disputes over the past 25 years.
Initial reports seemed like a smoking gun.
Television broadcaster ABC – quoting sources within the office of the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller – fanned the flames. In breaking the news, ABC reported erroneously that ‘candidate’ Trump had directed Flynn to contact the Russian ambassador. “JUST IN: @BrianRoss on @ABC News Special Report: Michael Flynn promised ‘full cooperation to the Mueller team’ and is prepared to testify that as a candidate, Donald Trump ‘directed him to make contact with the Russians.’”
Timing Is Everything: ‘President-elect, Not Candidate’
This seemed like a smoking gun. News media presented instant analysis suggesting that Mueller had succeeded in turning Flynn against the President, and this would be the beginning of Trump’s downfall. But other news organizations reported the matter differently, and by Friday evening ABC had issued the following correction:
“Flynn prepared to testify that President-elect Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians *during the transition* — initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria, confidant now says.”
The ABC correction changes the entire legal standing of the matter. Flynn was not contacting the Russian ambassador on behalf of a candidate. He was contacting them on behalf of the President-elect, to discuss possible cooperation in the war against ISIS. This is unremarkable, and it is part of normal diplomatic practice. The cooperation with Russia against ISIS was a policy initiated by President Barack Obama, in fact. His discussion of the Russian response to Obama’s expulsion of Russian diplomats also was acceptable diplomatic discourse.
Establishing a line of communication between the incoming presidential team and key international players is responsible diplomacy.
Establishing a line of communication between the incoming presidential team and key international players is responsible diplomacy. It is important for our partners, our opponents, and even our enemies to understand that there is a continuity in American diplomacy. It is equally important to clarify a break with past policy, and to do so as soon as possible. That is the purpose in having communications with the transition team of the President-elect.
It is telling that Flynn was allowed to plead only to a so-called “process crime.” He wasn’t charged with any underlying criminal activity, but with failing to tell the truth when asked about his activity. It is not clear why he felt a need to lie about his contacts with the Russian ambassador. Trump’s opponents seize on Flynn’s lying, and say there must be something he was hiding. From the state of the plea agreement, that does not appear to be the case, although time will tell.
Avoid Criminalizing Diplomacy
Throughout the process of Mueller’s investigation, we have learned that his team leaks to the media frequently. We have learned also that the leaks are not always reliable, and are heavily prejudicial. That is especially true with the original story published by ABC about Flynn. In its correction, ABC clearly said that their source had ‘clarified’ – they later changed it to ‘corrected’ – the timing of Flynn’s outreach to the Russians.
Was this lapse only a misunderstanding on the part of the reporter, or was it to be laid at the feet of the source within the Mueller investigation? More to the point, was it accidental, or purposive? For most of the day yesterday, the dominant story was that Mueller had ‘flipped’ Flynn and was about to get evidence of the elusive Trump-Russia collusion, the Holy Grail for Trump’s political opponents. The correction was issued Friday evening, the famous weekend ‘news hole’ where breaking stories are sent to die.
Now that we know the truth, let us be careful to avoid criminalizing diplomacy. Given what we know now, there is nothing for Trump, Kushner, or any other campaign or transition official to be ashamed of. Talking to the Russians in the way that has been outlined was a normal part of diplomatic behavior, and they would have been negligent not to have done it.
