Law professor Alan Dershowitz on Monday argued that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn should never have pleaded guilty in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation because “lying to the FBI is not a crime.”
During an interview on Fox News, Dershowitz asserted that Flynn’s lie about speaking to the Russian ambassador regarding removing sanctions was not “material” to the Russia investigation.
“I hope the judge understands when he has the case tomorrow that Flynn did not commit a crime by lying,” Dershowitz told Fox News host Bill Hemmer. “Because the lie has to be material to the investigation. And if the FBI already knew the answer to the question and only asked him the question in order to give him an opportunity to lie, his answer — even if false — was not material to the investigation.”
“Lying to the FBI is not a crime!” the law professor added.
“Why not just tell the truth?” Hemmer wondered.
In a court filing last week, the special counsel insisted that “nothing about the way the interview was arranged or conducted caused the defendant to make false statements to the FBI.”
“The interview was voluntary, and lacked any indicia of coercion,” Mueller said in the document.
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