Posted on 12/19/2018 8:22:21 PM PST by bitt
The dramatic Tuesday hearing for former national security adviser Mike Flynn didnt produce a sentence. Instead, Judge Emmet Sullivan gave Mr. Flynn a delay to reconsider his options. I was in the courtroom, and my reading of Judge Sullivans treatment of Mr. Flynn (with whom I co-wrote a 2016 book) was rather different from what most reporters have said and written.
Judge Sullivan repeatedly invited Mr. Flynn to reconsider his guilty plea on a charge of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Judge Sullivan stressed that he had not presided over earlier proceedings in the case and that he was prepared to have Mr. Flynn change his plea or even ask for a dismissal of charges. At times, the judge seemed to implore Mr. Flynn to reopen the deal he made with special counsel Robert Mueller, implying that there was reason to believe his guilty plea had been wrongfully arranged.
Mr. Flynn wasnt interested. Over and over he told Judge Sullivan that he was comfortable with his confession, did not wish to have it reconsidered, and wanted the judge to pronounce sentence. But Judge Sullivan continued unsuccessfully to invite a change in Mr. Flynns plea.
The discussion then shifted to whether the sentence should include jail timewhich prosecutors had recommended against. Mr. Flynns lawyers stressed that he had fully cooperated with Mr. Mueller, andas the special counsels written statements have reiteratedhe remained cooperative. That could include testifying against Mr. Flynns former business associates in a case from Virginia involving the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
How did you get the url for the free version?
All the judge did was try to help keep the story alive. If he sentences him the story is over. He gets little or no jail time and there is no there there. This way the narrative can continue.
WTH??
The caption that accompanied the photo is as follows.
FILE- In this file photo taken on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center right, with retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, center left, and Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica, obscured second right, attend an exhibition marking the 10th anniversary of RT (Russia Today) 24-hour English-language TV news channel in Moscow, Russia. The Kremlin said Monday Dec. 4, 2017 that conversations between the Trump administration and the Russian ambassador to the United States could not have possibly swayed Putin's decision on U.S. sanctions imposed by the outgoing administration. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo )
Flynn will go before a yet different judge - the judge has shown he is incapable of sentencing without prejudice.
From the FBI 302 written 1/24/2017 -
https://www.lawfareblog.com/document-special-counsel-releases-flynn-302
On whether he spoke to Kislyak on expulsions of Russian diplomats- “not really. I don’t remember.”
On whether Kislyak told Flynn Russia had changed their position on response to sanctions because of the position of the incoming administration, Flynn said
“it was possible that he talked to Kislyak on the issue, but he did not remember”.
Assuming we knew the actual words on the intercepted phone call between Flynn and Kislyak - and that the words were translated from Russian to English and back without any change in nuance - and that he did discuss sanctions on the recorded call - Flynn DID NOT LIE about his conversation with Kislyak because he repeatedly said “I don’t remember” and that it was “possible” that he did discuss sanctions with Kislyak. The only possible lie would pertain to the conversation about voting down the resolution to condemn Israel, which has nothing to do with Russian collusion. Flynn, if he lied about that, would have no motive to do so, because there is nothing politically embarrassing about trying to convince other countries not to condemn Israel. So what Sullivan is seeing is that Flynn is pleading guilty to a crime he obviously did not commit. Mueller wants Flynn to pead guilty to lying about whether he discussed sanctions with Kislyak BECAUSE IT SUPPORTS THE PHONY RUSSIA COLLUSION NARRATIVE. That’s why Sullivan doesn’t want to sentence him - he knows Flynn is innocent, the 302 transcript proves it. Sullivan wants to wait until the FARA charges against Flynn associates are settled, and if Flynn is not also charged before his associates’ cases are settled, apparently this limits the government’s ability to charge him. So after those charges are settled Flynn’s charges will be dismissed and he will win game set and match - for Flynn and of course DJT.
Thanks.
There is another photo too, where they list the names of several Russians, and I think they are standing, as if approaching the table ...
To me the facts are not adding up (Flynn lied, the FBI skirted the rules, he failed to register as a foreign agent - so what / it don’t add up to five years)and maybe the Judge saw it the same way.
On the other hand, the Judge is acting like Flynn committed Treason. What does the Judge know that we don’t? George Webb is saying Flynn had 19 interviews with the FBI with the last one on Nov 28, 2016 (not sure if this is true, but, maybe Flynn was working to set up Trump all along). Webb is also saying Flynn was pushing some energy/weapons deal worth 45B (Iron Bridge/IP3)and now Mueller is setting Flynn as the fall guy for a whole bunch of stuff.
I’m ok with the Judge’s 3 month postponement.
Trump needs to declassify.
Helping Mueller is treasonous.
https://www.facebook.com/tim.phares.35/posts/10216691520737054?hc_location=ufi
“what is an agent of ergodan and the turkeys doing in President Trump’s inner circle?”
He wanted to “supplement his income”. A 3-star general’s retirement only goes so far in DC. He has a high profile, so suitors (I am sure) came a’calling ....
Gee. That was an easy one to answer. ;>)
He had ALREADY been brought close to bankruptcy. And now his son was gonna be charged as well. Cooperating with Mueller was the equivalent of saying “No mas”.
Our legal system is so byzantine and over-complicated that JUST BECOMING INVOLVED IN IT = LOSING.
(Just ask anyone who has ever gone through a contested divorce.)
“Why is Flynn not fighting against the Mueller coup?
Why wouldnt Flynn use a public defender for free?
Why is Flynn being a pussy when Manafort isnt?”
-Because he has the world’s worst lawyers. ...and...
Perhaps Mueller is holding something over the head of Flynn’s lawyers.
Using outline.com for Wall Street Journal articles:
Browse to the WSJ page that contains just the start of the article, with the "Subscribe" and "Sign in" buttons.
Manually edit the URL shown for that page by your browser, by placing this:
http://outline.com/
directly to the left of the existing URL. Don't add a space. Don't forget the trailing forward slash:
http://outline.com/https://www.wsj.com/articles/...
Hit Enter. Outline.com will retrieve the page and will generate its own new short URL.
outline.com is the best. I have it in my bookmark toolbar - just cut an paste the URL you want
I hear what you’re saying, and I agree with your interpretation of the situation.
Thanks
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