New: KT McFarland, the former deputy nat sec adviser, has revised her statement to investigators about a key event in the Russia probe after her initial claim was contradicted by the guilty plea of Michael Flynn. washingtonpost.com/world/national… by me and @DevlinBarrett
McFarland now says Flynn may have been referring to sanctions when they spoke in late Dec. 2016 after Flynn’s calls with Russia’s ambassador. But this summer, McFarland denied to the FBI ever talking to Flynn about any discussion of sanctions between him and the ambassador.
For a time, investigators saw McFarland’s answers as “inconsistent,” putting her in legal peril as the FBI tried to determine if she had lied to them. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his calls with the ambassador and has been cooperating with Mueller.
Eventually, McFarland and her lawyer convinced the FBI that she hadn’t intentionally misled the bureau and had spoken from memory, without the benefit of any documents that could have helped her remember. Mueller’s team appears to be satisfied with McFarland’s revised account.
However, just days after Flynn talked to the ambassador, McFarland called me and said her memory was clear, and that Flynn and the ambassador had never discussed sanctions or how the incoming Trump administration hoped Russia would respond.
This was the day David Ignatius first reported Flynn talked to the ambassador, a key point in the Russia probe. McFarland said sanctions never came up. This was later contradicted by Flynn’s own guilty plea, as well as other evidence.
It appears that McFarland has settled her account with Mueller. A big question now is what information she could provide about what other senior Trump advisers knew about Flynn’s calls with the ambassador. /end
Sorry—last summer (2017) is when McFarland first spoke to the FBI about Flynn’s calls with the ambassador. Story has it correct.
PS—clarifying earlier tweet. McFarland first spoke to the FBI in the summer of 2017. The story has the chronology correct.
