Newly released handwritten FBI notes contradict the bureau’s official account of two statements that helped form the case against President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, while providing more insight into a closely guarded investigation burgeoning in South Florida.
John Solomon, chairman of the White House Government Transparency Task Force, revealed the glaring discrepancies on Wednesday after the task force released notes from Flynn’s January 2017 interview. Solomon released a typed version of the interview summary and two handwritten versions from the agent assigned to interview Flynn. Solomon said the records were not disclosed before Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, which he later withdrew.
The discrepancies within the documents chart one of the most revealing and previously undisclosed missteps of the controversial investigation under then-FBI Director James Comey, which serve to bolster Flynn’s argument that the FBI misrepresented his answers and wrongfully prosecuted him.
The interview was conducted under Comey’s direction, with Andrew McCabe serving as deputy director at the time and Bill Priestap leading the bureau’s counterintelligence division. Comey approved sending agents to the White House, and McCabe called Flynn directly to arrange the interview rather than first going through the White House counsel’s office.
“The agents went to interview Flynn because I said I want Flynn interviewed, I want him interviewed as soon as possible,” Comey told House lawmakers during closed-door testimony on Dec. 17, 2018.
Former FBI agent Peter Strzok linked to erroneous Flynn interview notes
The set of three documents released by the task force includes notes taken by former FBI agents Peter Strzok and Joe Pientka during their Jan. 24, 2017, interview with Flynn, as well as the official summary, known as an FD-302.
The primary discrepancy concerns Flynn’s private December 2016 phone call with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Prosecutors accused Flynn of falsely denying that he had asked Kislyak to avoid escalating tensions after the Obama administration imposed sanctions on Russia during the transition period between his administration and the incoming Trump administration.
The FBI’s typed interview report quoted Flynn as saying, “Not really. I don’t remember. It wasn’t, ‘Don’t do anything.’”
But Pientka’s handwritten notes recorded Flynn as saying, “Not really. I don’t remember. Hey don’t do anything.”
The typed report added the phrase “It wasn’t,” turning Flynn’s noncommittal comment about his conversation with Kislyak into the denial that formed the basis of his false statements charge.
The second discrepancy involved Flynn being questioned about a series of calls in late December 2016, around the time when the Obama administration announced new sanctions against Russia and the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats. While vacationing in the Dominican Republic, Flynn allegedly discussed the sanctions with Trump transition officials before allegedly calling Kislyak and asking Moscow not to escalate its response, according to the Mueller Report.
The intelligence community had intercepted the Kislyak call, unmasked Flynn’s identity as the person speaking with him, and then the FBI questioned Flynn about how the request came together. However, the bureau’s typed report stated that Flynn “remembered making four to five calls that day about this issue.” But both of the agents’ handwritten notes said the opposite. Pientka recorded Flynn as saying, “I [do not] remember making 4-5 calls,” while Strzok wrote that he said, “If so, don’t remember.”
The discrepancies underscore the long-standing contention by Trump and his allies that the FBI’s investigation of Flynn was both politically targeted and manipulated to ensnare the former national security adviser in a false statements trap.
“When you’re charging a defendant with lying, these conflicts and discrepancies are significant,” Solomon wrote on X. “They were not disclosed before Flynn was pressured into a plea deal.”
Solomon attributed a large part of the discrepancy to the bureau’s antiquated form of handling interviews, while noting the FBI waited more than 20 days after the interview to create the typed format. Previously released text messages showed Strzok discussing edits with FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who did not attend the interview.
Strzok told Page he was “trying not to completely re-write” the report because of the condition of an earlier draft. Page also proposed edits.
The new records do not establish who made the disputed changes or whether they were intentional. They do, however, tremendously weaken the Comey-era FBI account that prosecutors relied on to charge Flynn.
Flynn revelations follow earlier settlement deal with Trump 2.0
Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to one count of making false statements but later sought to withdraw his plea. His lawyers accused investigators of withholding favorable evidence and altering the interview report.
During the final year of Trump’s first presidency, the Justice Department moved to dismiss the charge after concluding that Flynn’s interview lacked a legitimate investigative basis and that prosecutors could not prove the case. Trump pardoned Flynn in November 2020 after the presiding judge declined immediately to dismiss it.
Flynn later sued the government for at least $50 million, alleging malicious prosecution and arguing that the FBI targeted him because of his connection to Trump.
The DOJ under Trump agreed in March to pay Flynn $1.25 million to settle the lawsuit.
The Trump administration later agreed to another $1.25 million settlement with former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, who similarly sued over the FBI’s secret surveillance of him during the since-discredited Russia investigation.
A possible South Florida grand jury connection
Meanwhile, the Flynn documents surfaced as federal prosecutors intensified a South Florida investigation into whether intelligence and law enforcement officials conspired to misuse government power against Trump and his associates over several years. In April, former Reagan-era prosecutor Joe diGenova was hired to serve as a counselor to Attorney General Todd Blanche to help lead a team of agents and prosecutors under U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quinones.
The investigation places several members of the same FBI leadership circle back under scrutiny. Fox News reported in November last year that a South Florida grand jury subpoenaed former CIA Director John Brennan, Strzok, and Page. Law enforcement sources said at the time that as many as 30 subpoenas were expected.
A federal grand jury has been seated in Fort Pierce since January, reportedly to examine an alleged conspiracy spanning the Trump-Russia investigation and later government actions against Trump. Comey, who is facing federal charges for allegedly threatening the life of Trump with his online “86 47” post last summer, was also subpoenaed in the sprawling investigation earlier this year.
Prosecutors began seeking testimony from more former government officials this week. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that defense lawyers had been notified of forthcoming Florida grand jury subpoenas, though the recipients were not identified.
No charges have been announced, and the full scope of the investigation remains unclear.
Flynn and his son, Michael Flynn Jr., posted to X Wednesday, thanking the Trump administration for transparency and accountability about the case.
Notably, his son expressed hope that the “grand jury in Florida yields results that’ll allow us to move forward from one of the worst chapters of injustice in American history.”
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Brennan, who has not been formally accused of wrongdoing, is separately asking a federal judge to require the Trump administration to preserve records from investigations involving him. His lawyers say the material could help them challenge any future prosecution as selective or vindictive.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, is scheduled to hear arguments in Washington, D.C. on Monday afternoon over Brennan’s request. The DOJ has asked Cobb to dismiss the lawsuit.