Fmr. Acting AG Matt Whitaker says FBI launching review of Michael Flynn probe was 'obviously a good move'

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Matt Whitaker on FBI launching review of Michael Flynn probe

The FBI announced Director Chris Wray has ordered an internal review of the handling of the bureau’s investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn; Former Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker weighs in.

FBI Director Christopher Wray's decision to order an internal review of the bureau's investigation into Michael Flynn was "obviously a good move," former Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker asserted Saturday.

Appearing on "Fox & Friends Weekend" with host Griff Jenkins, Whitaker said that the men and women of the FBI want leadership from Wray and the American people want accountability for the people who "brought this national nightmare to us for over two years."

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"I know there [are] a lot of folks [who] feel that this is late. But, it's better late than never and I'm glad to see this step," he stated.

The review, announced Friday, will be handled by the bureau’s Inspection Division. That division is similar to an internal affairs office in a police department.

In this Dec. 1, 2017, file photo, Michael Flynn, center, arrives at federal court in Washington. A judge set a sentencing hearing for Michael Flynn after rejecting arguments from the former Trump administration national security adviser that prosecutors had withheld evidence favorable to his case.  (AP)

The bureau also said the “after-action review” will have a two-fold purpose: evaluating the FBI’s role in the case and determining whether any “current employees engaged in misconduct,” as well as identifying whether any “improvements” might be warranted to FBI procedures.

“Although the FBI does not have the prosecutorial authority to bring a criminal case, the Inspection Division can and will evaluate whether any current onboard employees engaged in actions that might warrant disciplinary measures,” the FBI said.

This development comes just weeks after the Justice Department moved to drop its case against Flynn as internal memos were released raising questions about the nature of the investigation that led to Flynn’s 2017 guilty plea of lying to the FBI -- and specifically about the early 2017 interview that led to that plea.

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"So, the Flynn dismissal motion is over 100 pages. The Department of Justice filed it. It lays out a very compelling case of the abuses in that case including a lack of predication for the investigation and interview of General Flynn and also the fact that anything he said during that interview wasn't material to an ongoing investigation," Whitaker remarked. "This is basic blocking and tackling of how the FBI should work."

In a part of a newly declassified memo, former Obama-era national security adviser Susan Rice had written that former FBI Director James Comey had promised President Obama a "by the book" probe into Flynn.

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Whitaker told Jenkins he doesn't know what book they were following, "because every book that I know -- which is the Justice Manual -- doesn't allow these types of investigations."

Fox News' Alex Pappas, David Spunt, and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.