Fox News anchor Shepard Smith told viewers that the theory that former national security adviser Michael Flynn was tricked by FBI agents that was promoted on his network blew up after Flynn did not challenge the circumstances of his interview where he lied to federal agents.
Smith’s comments come after Flynn requested on Tuesday morning a postponement in his sentencing for lying to FBI agents about his discussions about U.S. sanctions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the Trump transition.
Some in conservative media circles who support President Trump, along with the White House, claimed Flynn may have been a victim of entrapment, something Smith pushed back on during his mid-afternoon newscast “Shepard Smith Reporting.”
“The judge also questioning Flynn and his lawyer about their memo last week that suggested that FBI agents might have tricked the former national security adviser when they didn’t tell him lying to the FBI is a crime,” Smith said. “You heard the theory floated by the White House and its defenders here and elsewhere. That all blew up today.”
“Michael Flynn himself said he is not challenging the circumstances of the interview, that he knew lying to the feds was a crime when he lied to the feds, that he was not entrapped, that he was guilty,” the anchor continued. “He said as much a year ago.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Fox News earlier Tuesday that “the FBI broke every standard protocol that they have,” when interviewing Flynn, adding that he had been “ambushed.”
Smith characterized Judge Emmet Sullivan’s remarks to Flynn as “shocking” after Sullivan said the three-star general had arguably “sold his country out” and committed “a very serious offense” as a “high ranking senior official of the government making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation while on the physical premises of the White House.”
Smith, 54, serves as the chief news anchor and managing editor for the network’s breaking news division. He signed a multiyear deal to stay with Fox News in March and has been with the network since its inception in 1996.
Flynn resigned just 24 days after assuming his role as national security adviser in Feb. 2017. His sentencing on Tuesday was delayed at least 90 days.