Chuck Ross | Investigative Reporter
Former Trump attorney John Dowd on Monday accused the special counsels office of ambushing him and attempting to smear his reputation in the Russia report by selectively quoting from a voicemail he left for Michael Flynns attorney.
“Isnt it ironic that this man who kept indicting and prosecuting people for process crimes committed a false statement in his own report. By taking out half my words, they changed the tenor and the contents of that conversation with [Flynn lawyer] Robert Kelner,” Dowd said of former special counsel Robert Mueller in an interview with Fox Newss Sean Hannity.
Dowd, a former federal prosecutor, was responding to Fridays release of a complete transcript of a voicemail he left with Kelner on Nov. 22, 2017, just after Flynn left a joint defense agreement with President Donald Trump and shortly before he began cooperating with the special counsel.
Mueller published portions of the voicemail transcript in the section of the Russia report dealing with the obstruction of justice investigation against Trump. According to the report, Dowd left the voicemail after Kelner had told him “that Flynn could no longer have confidential communications with the White House or the President.” (RELATED: Grassley: Mueller Team Mischaracterized Trump Campaign Emails In Court Filing)
But the full transcript of Dowds voicemail, which was ordered released by Judge Emmet Sullivan, shows that he told Kelner that while he hoped to get “a heads up” about any cooperation with the special counsel, he wanted to do so “without you having to give up any … confidential information.”
WATCH:
The special counsels report portrays the transcript as reading:
[I]f . .. theres information that implicates the President, then weve got a national security issue, . . . so, you know, . . . we need some kind of heads up. Um, just for the sake of protecting all our interests if we can …
That portion of the transcript released Friday reads:
If, on the other hand, we have, theres information that. .. implicates the President, then weve got a national security issue, or maybe a national security issue, I dont know … some issue, we got to-we got to deal with, not only for the President, but for the country. So … uh … you know, then-then, you know, we need some kind of heads up. Um, just for the sake of … protecting all our interests, if we can, without you having to give up any … confidential information.
Dowd also claims that Muellers report falsely suggests that the contact with Kelner was improper. Dowd said Monday that he “had an obligation as counsel to the president to find out what was going on.”
“Im so glad Judge Sullivan ordered the transcript because we now knowRead More – Source
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