Grand jury to hear evidence on Flynn’s lobbying work for Turkey

The Hill ^ | 12/05/18 | John Bowden

[yesthatjallen]

A grand jury has been called to hear evidence concerning former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn's lobbying work for the Turkish government as the former Trump aide's role in the special counsel investigation appears to be coming to a close.

The New York Times reports that a grand jury in Virginia will hear evidence that Flynn was serving as an unregistered agent of the Turkish government in the U.S. days after the 2016 election when he penned an op-ed for The Hill attacking Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric exiled from Turkey living in Pennsylvania.

Investigation of Flynn's contact with Turkish officials comes after the former Trump associate plead guilty late last year to lying to FBI investigators about his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the United States.

Prosecutors wrote in court filings this week obtained by the Times that Flynn's op-ed attacking Gulen “was valuable to the Republic of Turkey’s efforts to shape public opinion," and was not written of his own initiative, as Flynn previously told investigators.

Flynn admitted to prosecutors last year that he had violated Justice Department rules mandating the registration of foreign lobbyists, but has not yet been charged with a crime related to his work with Turkey.

News of a grand jury's examination of Flynn's lobbying work comes a day after prosecutors with Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation recommended that Flynn serve no jail time for lying to investigators, citing his contributions to their investigations.

“The offense level and guideline range, however, do not account for a downward departure pursuant to Section 5K1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines reflecting the defendants substantial assistance to the government, which the government has moved for contemporaneously,” Mueller’s prosecutors wrote Tuesday.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, Flynn could be sentenced to between zero and six months in prison and face up to a $9,500 fine.

[Alberta's Child]

I do give Trump the benefit of the doubt. He was not a politician and had no political apparatus in place when he ran for office, so he wasn't nearly as wise about the ways of Washington as someone else would have been. But that's a good reason to steer clear of anyone who has been entrenched in D.C. for years, isn't it?

If nothing else, I hope this will rid Trump of his delusion that everyone who wears a military uniform is an honorable man.

[EVO X]

But that's a good reason to steer clear of anyone who has been entrenched in D.C. for years, isn't it?

In the case of Flynn, Trump may not have known the extent of his business dealings. I suspect Flynn now regrets not fading away to some think tank or board of directors job at a defense contractor.

Monkeying around with the swamp is a Catch 22. You need people that know how to navigate the swamp. The only way to drain the swamp is for voters to decide they want a smaller federal government.

[Kid Shelleen]

The Conservative Tree House has an interesting take. They claim the Turkey issue was used to squeeze Flynn to help the media embarrass Pence and propagate the Russian hoax. That also helps explain why the deep state sent Russians to meet with Jared Kushner.
In other words if anyone had ANY contact with ANY Russians it was leaked to the press and would be used to embarrass the Trump administration.
And any info Flynn gave Mueller could be used to bait his perjury traps.

The Turkish lobbying was the teeth that Mueller used to keep General Michael Flynn on the ropes.
---SNIP---
*NOTE* Notice the incoming administration was under a false-narrative siege created by the media. At the time (early Jan, 2017) ‘any contact’ with Russians was evidence of meddling/election-collusion with Russians. VP-elect Mike Pence poorly answered the question from Dickerson from a very defensive position.

Mueller Releases Flynn Sentencing Memo – Recommends Leniency, No Incarceration, Heavy Focus on Turkish Lobbying Issues…