Former FBI deputy Andy McCabe disputes Bill Barr's case to save Michael Flynn as 'considerable national security risk'

Part of the Justice Department's case to dismiss the charges against former Director of National Intelligence Michael Flynn was the idea that the FBI could have simply read the transcript of Flynn's call with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Attorney General Bill Barr's team argues there was no "justification or need to interview" Flynn about his recollections of the call. That's where Flynn lied, but the DOJ said the lies weren't "material."

Former deputy director of the FBI, Andy McCabe, released a statement disputing the DOJ's new position.

"[DOJ's] position that the FBI had no reason to interview Mr. Flynn pursuant to its counterintelligence investigation is patently false, and ignores the considerable national security risk his contacts raised," McCabe said, according to CBS News reporter Steve Portnoy.

"We opened the Russia investigation to determine if the Russian government coordinated with the Trump campaign. Mr. Flynn has prominent, high level interactions with Russian officials, so we investigated whether he might be that point of coordination," McCabe's statement continued. "We received incontrovertible evidence that Mr. Flynn spoke to the Russian ambassador on more than one occasion, that he actively tried to influence the actions of Russian officials, and that those officials acceded to his requests. The FBI was obligated to interview him to better understand why he was talking to Russian officials. During the interview, he lied about the substance of his conversations with those officials. His lies added to our concerns about his relationship with the Russian government. Later, under oath in Federal Court, he twice admitted to lying to the FBI."

"Today's move by the Justice Department has nothing to do with the facts or the law -- it is pure politics designed to please the president," the statement closed.

Read the full statement: