Eli Lake claims Obama admin targeted Michael Flynn for being 'too willing to pursue a reset ... with Russia'

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Reaction and analysis from Bloomberg columnist Eli Lake.

Bloomberg columnist Eli Lake, the author of a Commentary Magazine piece titled "The Railroading of Michael Flynn," told Fox News' "The Story" Friday that he believes the Obama administration targeted Flynn because he was "too willing to pursue a reset, if you will, with Russia."

Lake added that he has heard speculation that Flynn was the only close Trump adviser who had the intelligence community credentials to "get to the bottom" of the FBI's Russia investigation.

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"And he would have the authority as national security advisor to do just that," Lake told host Martha MacCallum, noting that according to Flynn's now-withdrawn guilty plea to lying to FBI agents, then-Russian envoy to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak was urged not to escalate tensions with the incoming Trump administration despite the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats in the final days of the Obama administration.

"I also think that there was a sense that Donald Trump, as well as Michael Flynn, were too willing to pursue a reset, if you will, with Russia, after Russia's interference in the 2016 election," Lake said

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"By the time there was this inauguration of President Trump, there was no evidence -- as Mueller would never indict anybody for a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia -- it was something that was being investigated and they hadn't turned up anything yet, but I think that ... they really did not want to see an effort by the new Trump Administration to try to have a better relationship with Russia."