Posted on 12/18/2018 1:52:26 PM PST by Eddie01
One could well understand if President Trump’s fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was a tad confused.
[snip]
Sullivan’s harsh attack on Flynn was a surprise. It left Flynn in the position of someone being hit by a train – when the train was miles off its track.
[snip]
Sullivan also asked prosecutor Brad Van Grack: "Hypothetically could he have been charged with treason?"
[snip]
Significantly, none of what Flynn and Kislyak discussed had anything to do with alleged Russian collusion.
[snip]
Yet the judge cited Flynn’s lobbying on behalf of Turkey as an aggravating factor he was considering in sentencing Flynn – despite the fact that this was not being used by the prosecutor as an aggravating factor.
Indeed, various figures like Democratic powerhouse Tony Podesta (brother of Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta) filed the same retroactive declaration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act involving the same underlying work for the same country.
Violations under Foreign Agents Registration Act (until the Mueller investigation) were rarely prosecuted as criminal matters. The vast majority of cases were matters of simple filings and fee payments, or in a few cases civil penalties.
The failure to file as a lobbyist for Turkey under the Foreign Agents Registration Act hardly makes Flynn the modern-day equivalent of Benedict Arnold. It makes him the Republican version of Tony Podesta, who is enjoying his retirement in his home in the upscale Kalomara neighborhood of Washington a few doors down from the former President Obama and his family.
[snip]
Moreover, it is hard to believe that Quinn would have looked kindly upon the decision of FBI Director James Comey to ignore the longstanding protocol of contacting the White House counsel before interviews like the one conducted with Flynn.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
“makes him ‘effing retarded”
Yep.
I look at it differently. If the judge wants to expose the shenanigans of Mueller, he might need Flynn to protest the fascist behavior of the FBI. Instead Flynn is copping a plea. It is something like a 3rd Century Christian saying that he was indeed an enemy of Rome.
Someone show me the error is in this thinking. The judge has no basis for going after Mueller without some scintilla of help from Flynn.
They got to the judge
Btw Turkey is a member of NATO and a US ally
How can consulting with them on US policy be considered “ treason”?
Think anyone else in the USG advocates one way or the other on issues affecting Tufkey?
Is Adam Schiff registered for the policy pushing he does for Ukraine?
Is Joe Biden or his son?
That's a money quote there, Eli.
Eerily similar to the situation when John Roberts surprised everyone with his 0bozoCare defense in 2011. Who knows what skeletons lurk in any judge’s closet?
This judge is anything but a “dumbass.” He was urging, virtually pleading with Flynn’s dipshit legal team to give him ANYTHING he could rule on-—but Flynn wanted this to end.
Except it can’t end because he has agreed to testify in the Turkish cases-—because Flynn was in fact exposed on the Turkey stuff (but not “muh Russia”).
All your life in legal issues you hope you get a favorable judge. Flynn got one, then expected him to do ALL the lifting, not just be fair. A judge may overrule a prosecutor, but will never overrule both a prosecutor and a defense.
1. So he'd have grounds to recuse himself from the case before the March sentencing hearing is held.
2. To give Flynn strong grounds to appeal any sentence he gets.
“The judge apologized profusely for the treason comments.”
But the judge’s emotional outburst did a disservice to the defendant and separated justice from its purpose.
Yes, we remember the judge doing well in the case of the Senator from Alaska years ago but what happened today is troubling. Who knows what kinds of pressure Judge Sullivan himself may be under.
Judge Sullivan needs to get himself under control or step aside until he can.
Maybe he was thinking that as the incoming Nat Security advisor, the new adminstration needed to rework the arrangements obama and the CIA had forged giving Turkey free rein on its Kurdish problem in exchange for being the conduit through which the USG supported ISIS and al Qaeda attacks in Syria, including delivery of CW
Maybe Gen Flynn was using his military experience to try to structure a new strategic relationship with Turkey for a post-Assad Syria and a defeated ISIS in the region
Or maybe the Trump team was trying to work through the blowback of the failed coup in Turkey supported by the Clintons and their Gulenistas, the coup that led to closer ties between Turkey and Russia including Turkish threats against the US airbases there
Just maybe
Only to the media, and liberal politicians who wanted to make hay over it. Flynn's work had nothing to do with the campaign, or with Trump, but because neither group would ever point that out in statements, or news articles, they'll simply twist the facts to achieve the greatest effect.
But getting paid by a foreign government to lobby the U.S. government while working for a political candidate presents a blatant conflict of interest in a matter like this.
Interestingly, this whole debacle relates to a comment I made back in late 2016 right here on FreeRepublic that is so relevant I'm tempted to go back and search for it. At the time, there was a story floating around about some of the challenges the Trump transition team was having in getting appointees lined up for cabinet posts because Trump was requiring all of them to sign an agreement that precluded them from working as a lobbyist for five years after they leave the Trump administration.
At the time, I said something to this effect: "That's great, but I'd insist on disqualifying any candidate for these cabinet posts who served as a lobbyist within the LAST five years, too."
1. Do you have any idea what a conflict of interest is?
2. Would you feel the same way if this was a Democrat political hack in the Clinton campaign working as a lobbyist for a foreign government?
LOL. Ya can’t unring that bell, judge. How perfectly convenient. Now the lamestream runs with it and Joe and Dolly McWalmart in Cedar Rapids say “ See!!!!! even the judge thinks Flynn is a traitor! Don Trump is a dirty Soviet Red! “”
It wasn’t Trump’s conflict of interest because as far as I know, he knew nothing about it. That’s on Flynn. And how many times have Democrats done the exact same thing and more, and nothing has ever been done about it? It’s a given that Dems will get away with murder while Republicans are held accountable. After so many years of it, I refuse to let it upset me anymore. Life is too short to be continually upset by this stuff.
Flynn is a moron and morons hire morons as legal representatives apparently.
That's exactly right -- and that's exactly why I have no sympathy for Flynn.
I think Flynn is a f#%&ing moron. And he should be gracious for that because before last week I was getting more suspicious by the day that he was an Obama mole in the Trump campaign.
It sounds to me like the judge is protecting Flynn. By throwing things out there and getting Meullers minions to deny them he is getting rid of a lot of innuendo
Sullivan is not dumb. Yes, it was a poor choice of words. I think he intended his remarks to be a reflection on the prosecution and why they only charged him with a violation of the Logan Act, which has only been used 4-6 times and never resulted in a conviction.
He’s pissed at the prosecution. Based on his statement that he is not in the habit of accepting a guilty plea from someone who has not committed a crime.
All in all, this was a very good day for Flynn. He will now likely ask want to vacate his guilty plea since Sullivan all but said he is innocent of the charge.
If I was Flynn I'd be scared shitless.
Sullivan can't be trusted to do the right thing.
Sullivan is working Flynn's strings being puppeteer for Mueller's puppet show .
BTW, I don’t trust Turley either.
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