A host the Fox News show Fox & Friends defended former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s lying to the FBI—a felony he pleaded guilty to—by suggesting Flynn was tricked into confession and “thought they were talking among two buddies.”
Flynn plead guilty last year to lying to FBI agents during their investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and links to associates of President Donald Trump.
Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade perpetuated a chryon on the show stating, “FBI accused of tricking Flynn into confession.”
Kilmeade said more details were emerging on why FBI agents felt that Flynn might not have been lying.
“It’s because he walked in and shook their hands and felt like one of the guys. He offered them a tour of the White House, he sat down there. He thought they were talking among two buddies,” Kilmeade said. “And they used that to his advantage. They said, he had learned to believe the lies he was telling.”
“Really, what a view to leak that is. He was convincing in the lies because he believed the lies he was telling,” Kilmeade continued. “How does the lieutenant general with 33 years of military experience feel that comfortable lying?”
Former Secret Service agent and conservative commentator Dan Bongino agreed with Kilmeade and furthered the theory.
“Don’t you think that it’s at least possible that Flynn may have taken this plea because he was bullied financially?” Bongino said.
Kilmeade opined: “Absolutely.”
“He was afraid that his family would be prosecuted, and he may have legitimately misremembered his conversation,” Bongino continued. “He knew the FBI had a transcript. This is not a stupid guy. This is an American patriot. This is a hero here.”
Vice President-Elect Mike Pence poses for photos with ‘Fox & Friends’ hosts, Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade at Fox News Studios on December 6, 2016, in New York City. Kilmeade defended former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s lying to the FBI.
Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images
On Friday, the office of special counsel Robert Muller rejected Flynn’s suggestion that he had been tricked into lying.
“A sitting national security adviser, former head of an intelligence agency, retired lieutenant general and 33-year veteran of the armed forces knows he should not lie to federal agents,” prosecutors for Mueller wrote in court papers. “He does not need to be warned it is a crime to lie to federal agents to know the importance of telling them the truth.”
Prosecutors accused Flynn of lying to Vice President Mike Pence, federal investigators, senior White House aides and the media weeks before and after Trump was inaugurated, as he tried to mask the truth around his interactions with then-Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak during the transition.
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