Jan. 26, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting former Obama administration surveillance of then-National Security Advisor-select Mike Flynn in December and urging a Congressional investigation of the abuse of intelligence agencies under Obama:
“It is positively outrageous, that National Security Advisor Mike Flynn was under FBI surveillance in December because of normal foreign government contacts during a presidential transition, that were then leaked to the news media to create the appearance of sedition. Later the FBI found nothing illicit about the contacts.
“The question is why did the Obama administration put it to the news media when they knew there was nothing to it? This act appears to be evidence that on its way out the door, the Obama administration was engaged in a political witch hunt designed to hamper the incoming Trump Administration, abusing intelligence and utilizing surveillance against political opponents in the Trump campaign and transition.
“It is not at all uncommon for a President-elect’s national security team to have contacts overseas prior to taking office, as Henry Kissinger, who was no spy, can readily attest. Kissinger had backchannel contacts at the height of the Cold War in 1968 with a Soviet intelligence official prior to Richard Nixon assuming office, which created avenues that led to successful summits, détente and eventually the Strategic Arms Limitations and Anti-Ballistic Missile treaties in 1972. These sorts of contacts can facilitate the promulgation of foreign policy so that when the President takes office, the national security team can begin work immediately. There is nothing seditious about the practice.
“The Congressional intelligence committees, if they investigate anything, ought to be figuring out why the Obama administration apparently had the Trump campaign and transition under surveillance and then used it politically — for such a scandal was heretofore unthinkable in our nation.”
Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.
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