१८ डिसेंबर, २०१८

"A federal judge on Tuesday postponed the sentencing for Michael Flynn after he lambasted President Trump’s former national security adviser for trying to undermine his own country..."

"... and said he could not guarantee he would spare Flynn from prison. The stunning development means that Flynn will have to be sentenced at a later date, when he can possibly convince a judge more thoroughly of how his cooperation has benefited law enforcement.... After reviewing some of the allegations against Flynn, including that he worked to advance the interests of the Turkish government in the United States during the 2016 presidential campaign, [U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan] pointed to an American flag behind him in the courtroom and said heatedly, 'Arguably, that undermines everything this flag over here stands for. Arguably you sold your country out. The court’s going to consider that... I cannot assure you, if you proceed today, you will not receive a sentence of incarceration.' Sullivan also asked a prosecutor with the special counsel’s office whether Flynn could be charged with 'treason.'"

WaPo reports.

२२३ टिप्पण्या:

223 पैकी 1 – 200   नवीन›   नवीनतम»
rehajm म्हणाले...

You're not obligated to grandstand when the opportunity presents itself.

Nonapod म्हणाले...

It seems to me that if "work[ing] to advance the interest" of a foreign government during a presidential campaign is now considered a jailable offense, a large swath of the lobbyists in DC should be thrown in jail.

Kevin म्हणाले...

It seems to me that if "work[ing] to advance the interest" of a foreign government during a presidential campaign is now considered a jailable offense, a large swath of the lobbyists in DC should be thrown in jail.

It would seem only a true Nationalist could be safe from prosecution.

Kevin म्हणाले...

I wonder what this judge might have to say to John Kerry.

n.n म्हणाले...

if "work[ing] to advance the interest" of a foreign government during a presidential campaign

China, Mexico, Guatemala, Iran, Israel, Nigeria, Somalia, Britain, Ukraine, ... Is there any government, let alone special and peculiar interest, that does not have a stake and advocate in American elections?

Kevin म्हणाले...

Does profiting from the sale of uranium to Russia while serving as Secretary of State rise to the level of the judge's ire?

Might that be even further toward treason?

Asking for a friend.

Gahrie म्हणाले...

Yeah, that's going to look good on the appellate record...

rhhardin म्हणाले...

One more insane judge.

Phil 314 म्हणाले...

A very contrasting viewpoint.

narciso म्हणाले...

Yes he was humiliated when he did right in the atevens case, after the schulte inquiry.

Rick म्हणाले...

Sullivan also asked a prosecutor with the special counsel’s office whether Flynn could be charged with 'treason.'"

Are we at War with Russia or Turkey (it's not even clear what he could possibly be referring to)? So...only in the sense that anyone can be "charged with" anything.

n.n म्हणाले...

only a true Nationalist could be safe from prosecution

That's the trap. Under contemporary ethical rules, they would be safe from prosecution, but not from persecution. It's a double-edged scalpel, wielded in restaurants, on the job, in the press, even outside a home. Whatever is politically congruent. Flynn knows the limits of viability and tolerance.

narciso म्हणाले...

No, but we've always been at war with eurasia.

YoungHegelian म्हणाले...

Okay, this strikes me as the judge moving into full-on Straussian "Persecution & the Art of Writing" territory. It's from shit like this that conspiracy theories get started.

Asking the prosecution if the defendant could be charged with treason? If I was the government attorney I would have told the judge "If we could have, we would have, you pompous dick!". I mean, what?!

If the judge sentences Flynn & fails to mention the yuuuuge procedural irregularities that afflicted the FBI's case, that's it, I'm putting on the tin-foil hat & going for it. This is starting to look to me like when the judge put the screws on the FBI for the documentation, the FBI pushed back, & let the judge know that if he makes the FBI look bad, the world's going to find out about the judge's taste for water sports with that 24 year old blond sugar baby (to pick a sexual peccadillo at random).

narciso म्हणाले...

Turkey is who we're relying on for the finding against prince Salman

narciso म्हणाले...

The whole thing reminded me of the end to the Hungarian English phrasebook python sketch.

n.n म्हणाले...

Bloomberg: A very contrasting viewpoint.

Saving General Flynn is now perceived as a point of leverage to defeat Americans who question the violation of their civil rights by the establishment, and special and peculiar interests, foreign and domestic.

I'm Full of Soup म्हणाले...

Does anyone in our justice system actually capable and know what they are doing? It seems more and more like the justice system is a chaotic, leak filled, interminable process.

It took almost 2 and a half years to try Kate Steinle's killer and that seems pretty typical. That is an outrage and a joke IMO.

Nonapod म्हणाले...

This is starting to look to me like when the judge put the screws on the FBI for the documentation, the FBI pushed back

To be fair, the Judge was apparently appointed by Clinton. And he did grandstand like a jackass. So, yeah

MeatPopscicle1234 म्हणाले...

Wait... I'm confused... Can't keep all these black-robed shenanigans straight... I thought, up until now, that Judge Sullivan had been ripping Mueller and the government prosecutors a new one every step of the way, demanding to see un-redacted exculpatory evidence like the original 302's, and until now, many thought he might actually throw the charges out based on the extreme malfeasance of the FBI's handling of the case.. and now all of a sudden the judge is accusing Flynn of treason? Talk about whip-lash... WTF?!?!

Just like with Chief Justice Robert's sudden about-face regarding ObamaCare, this kind of abrupt change stinks to high-heaven of Deep-State coercion... The Intelligence Community has become the one true branch of government, to which all others are subservient, and God help you if you go against them... they are all knowing, and all powerful, and can destroy your career, your family, take your freedom or even kill you, if they consider you a threat... The mask has been removed and it is now obvious that they are the real #1 enemy of America...

narciso म्हणाले...

Well but he did the right thing in the Steven's case, even though he let the kangaroo trial go on in the first place.

Ron Winkleheimer म्हणाले...

Wait a minute, this is the same judge who was demanding that FBI provide him with the 302s from the original interview. I'm usually pretty dismissive of conspiracy theories, but come on, this is pretty suspicious. Also not much in the news, the FBI conducted a raid on a guy who was officially a protected whistle blower to recover documents related to the Uranium One deal.

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

Even as unprecedented and anti-swamp as Trump is, I'm beginning to believe we need something even more radical. I no longer trust any of it - not any branch, not any official. The glaring double standards are just unbelievable, and the saddest thing is that half the country thinks that's a good thing. They see the umpire's bad calls and say: "well, at least it helps my team."

We're on the same side, idiots!

The FBI's threats on individual Americans have undermined the whole country, and that's the way bad shit always happens. First the cops pick a side, then everyone has to.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

Affirmative action judge appointed by Bill Clinton.

Chuck म्हणाले...

Is the Althouse commentariat going to line up behind the guy that Trump fired for lying to his Vice President?

Is TRUMP now lining up behind the guy that he fired for lying to his Vice President?

YoungHegelian म्हणाले...

@Joshua,

The Intelligence Community has become the one true branch of government, to which all others are subservient, and God help you if you go against them.

They have access to every computer transaction you perform, if they really want to dig that deep. Think about what they could find out about a specific targeted individual in the US if they put their minds to it.

Somehow, we're just supposed to trust these massive secretive agencies won't use these powers to defend their fiefdoms from outside interference. Yeah, right...

But ya know what? The Right deserves a lot of the blame here. We signed on for the expansion of these powers as part of the Bush security state after 9/11. Now --- surprise! surprise! --- it's being used against us.

The State is always the apex predator. Always. It can be naught else. The only question is who it decides to eat today.

ken in tx म्हणाले...

As a NATO member, Turkey is officially an ally, not an enemy. They probably should no longer be so, but that this judge does not know the criteria for a charge of treason is outrageous.

narciso म्हणाले...

Well except when they provide sanctuary to al queda financiers like yasin, when they support radical militias in Syria and Libya, the prosecutor fidan, absolved Iranian revolutionaries, btw this was Obama's favorite foreign leader

lawyapalooza म्हणाले...

Interesting to see the backflips most of the commentators on this page have to make each time someone related to Trump pleads guilty or is found guilty. They are absolutely zeroing in on the Trump family. But her emails....

narciso म्हणाले...

Yasin kadi, he bought enough lawyers to get off the sanctions list,

BamaBadgOR म्हणाले...

What a judge says as a prelude to his final decision is not always indicative of his final decision but possibly just an acknowledgment of the argument he is about to reject.

narciso म्हणाले...

Like this guy:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:62010CJ0584:EN:HTML

iowan2 म्हणाले...

Is the Althouse commentariat going to line up behind the guy

You go ahead and aline your self with the correct people, and shit on those you consider 'lesser' than your own divine self.

I am going to line up on the side of justice, and against extra judicial prosecution. REGARDLESS of the perceived social status of the individual involved. We are supposed to be a nation of laws, not a nation of men. (I would think a lawyer would instinctively understand this)
Answer a question. under what evidence of suspicion did Comey send two agents into the White House to interview Flynn? Why did they ask the questions they ask? (since they knew the answers)

Ron Winkleheimer म्हणाले...

They are absolutely zeroing in on the Trump family.

And you don't see how politically oppressive that is? The bureaucracy doesn't like Trump's politics, so lawfare is used against him and his family.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

worked to advance the interests of the Turkish government

"The United States pledged $5.8 billion in aid Tuesday for strengthening government and economic development in Central America, and another $4.8 billion in development aid for southern Mexico."

narciso म्हणाले...

He's fine with it, remember this is the atty generals office that sought to extort enron.

stevew म्हणाले...

Lesson: don't talk to the cops.

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

"Is the Althouse commentariat going to line up behind the guy that Trump fired for lying to his Vice President?"

I'm sure as hell not lining up behind the FBI, who lied to Flynn, lied to the FISA court, lied to Congress, lied to the American people, and who has clearly become a highly partisan police force, who tried to fix a Presidential election, and who is in the process of undermining the current duly elected Administration and seems incapable of seeing any crimes on one side while creating them on the other. Yea, but Flynn is the dangerous one. Like I said, we are all forced to pick a side now, and for some it's all about getting Trump, regardless of the price.

narciso म्हणाले...

Exxon, it was muellers deputy, who burned down Arthur Anderson to get to enron.

Phil 314 म्हणाले...

Chuck said...
Is the Althouse commentariat going to line up behind the guy that Trump fired for lying to his Vice President?

Are you that obtuse? Read the link I posted above along with this one and then comment.

And stop orienting your universe around Trump.

iowan2 म्हणाले...

But ya know what? The Right deserves a lot of the blame here. We signed on for the expansion of these powers as part of the Bush security state after 9/11. Now --- surprise! surprise! --- it's being used against us.

I argued loudly against the new agencies instituted by Bush. My betters always responded that we were in danger from foreign actors.
My response was always "If your afraid of foreigners longing for a return to the 7th century, think about what the most powerful nation on earth can do to you, by willingly surrendering your privacy protections."

Phil 314 म्हणाले...

PS I was not a Flynn fan in the run up to the 2016 election but he clearly is getting screwed.

stevew म्हणाले...

I'm with bagoh20.

M Jordan म्हणाले...

I’m leaning towards the idea the Sullivan went all fiery in order to 1) get Flynn to change his plea from Guilty to Not Guilty and 2) to provide criticism cushion for himself when he flips the script on Mueller. Machiavellian, true, but something is definitely up and if I were a Mueller, I wouldn’t be celebrating.

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

"They are absolutely zeroing in on the Trump family. But her emails....".

That's precisely correct. Now explain why Hillary has not been charged while these others are pursued. She did everything the currently charged people around Trump did. She did it bigger, she did it longer, and it was far far more damaging to the country. People died, people loyal to our country. The FBI through Comey even said as much in front of the Congress and the nation. Do you think that the inequity and open lawlessness of all this is good for any of us? Is it what you consider American?

tim maguire म्हणाले...

I question that judge's judicial temperament.

John Pickering म्हणाले...

This is one of those threads that makes it seem that many of Ann's readers are actually Russian bots: it's clear that as it begins to turn out that the President, along with his national security adviser, his former attorney general, his campaign managers as well as perhaps his vice president and at least two of his children, are actually or were formerly the witting agents of the Russian state, intelligence and organized crime interests, they will only conclude that the FBI and the Justice Department are themselves the criminals, for some reason.
Now of course, everyone knows that Hillary Clinton is in fact the billionaire kingpin and mastermind behind an international criminal conspiracy dedicated solely to her own enrichment, but can some of you help connect the dots? How does Hillary as criminal kingpin still manipulate the levers of the US government and federal law enforcement? Why is Trump so impotent to stop her? How do the actions of the Flynn judge today advance Hillary's eventual rise to the Oval Office?
Which would you rather have, a Russian agent as president or Robert Mueller as special counsel? That's an answer many of you have already made.

tim maguire म्हणाले...

Joshua Barker said... Talk about whip-lash... WTF?!?!

As a couple others here have said, this is the stuff conspiracy theories are made of.

narciso म्हणाले...

He wrote an OP ed on spec, like a gig using open source materials, remember how the sdny got back at libby for authoring the mark Rich defense, it's that kind of payback

Jupiter म्हणाले...

iowan2 said...
"Answer a question. under what evidence of suspicion did Comey send two agents into the White House to interview Flynn? Why did they ask the questions they ask? (since they knew the answers)".

Yeah, that's the question alright. Was there a known or suspected crime they were investigating? If so, no one has said what it was. Nor is it easy to see how asking a Presidential advisor a bunch of questions they already knew the answers to could further any such investigation. In fact, it is difficult to see any innocent explanation for the FBI's behavior.

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

"Which would you rather have, a Russian agent as president or Robert Mueller as special counsel?"

Neither has respect for the laws of this country. Despite what you claim there is still no proof of a Trump - Russian conspiracy. You know, the thing the special council is actually supposed to be proving or disproving, but which is now clearly just a ruse to allow them to pursue damaging the Administration that the FBI tried to prevent from being elected. Nice system you got there, and you love it.

Jim at म्हणाले...

Which would you rather have, a Russian agent as president or Robert Mueller as special counsel? That's an answer many of you have already made.

There's a third option, Pickering. War.
Which is precisely where we're headed.

Choose wisely.
Or not.

Mike (MJB Wolf) म्हणाले...

I was a Flynn supporter until today. I had not heard about the unregistered agent charges not pursued by Mueller. That's just bad form to not disclose that in the acting NSA position. I think now Flynn pled guilty to a crime he didn’t commit (lying to the FBI) to avoid the far more serious FARA charges involving Turkey.

Mueller got a Russian narrative b.s. scalp and Flynn avoided a more serious and harder to defend FARA violation. It does eem Judge S wants him to withdraw, and inflict some pain on Mueller, but Flynn has to stay with his deal now. Wow. Didn't see this outcome coming.

YoungHegelian म्हणाले...

Okay, I had Rush Limbaugh on while i was changing my clothes, & Limbaugh is painting a picture of a situation where the judge is clearly more skeptical of the government's case than the WaPo article leads on to believe. Rush played snippets from other reporters to back up his view. It's not like I would trust Rush just by himself.

I have no idea at this time who's right and who's wrong. I'm just saying we might be getting played by a skewed reading by the WaPo. We need to see the transcript, or at least, we need to read more reportage from multiple sources now that the court session has ended.

The Truth Is Out There.

Phil 314 म्हणाले...

"This is one of those threads that makes it seem that many of Ann's readers are actually Russian bots:"

I'm Spartacus!!

narciso म्हणाले...

A dossier which we are told came from Russian sources (I suspect it really was put together by someone like Nellie ohr) Steele's sources were burned, at least since Litvinenko was the predicate for all of this.

Mike (MJB Wolf) म्हणाले...

"Answer a question. under what evidence of suspicion did Comey send two agents into the White House to interview Flynn? Why did they ask the questions they ask? (since they knew the answers)".

Easy. It was the bullshit Logan Act nonsense that Sally Yates was yacking about. That's what they hung their actions (and leaks, remember?) on. That they found something juicier in FARA is all to Flynn's detriment. We all knew the process crimes were bogus but now we know why he would take it.

CWJ म्हणाले...

"Are we at War with Russia or Turkey..."

Not only that, but we and Turkey are NATO allies.

Chuck म्हणाले...

iowan2 said...
"Is the Althouse commentariat going to line up behind the guy"

You go ahead and aline your self with the correct people, and shit on those you consider 'lesser' than your own divine self.

I am going to line up on the side of justice, and against extra judicial prosecution. REGARDLESS of the perceived social status of the individual involved. We are supposed to be a nation of laws, not a nation of men. (I would think a lawyer would instinctively understand this)
Answer a question. under what evidence of suspicion did Comey send two agents into the White House to interview Flynn? Why did they ask the questions they ask? (since they knew the answers)


Hey I just realized that I forgot something. In addition to Trump's having said that Flynn lied to the Vice President, and the prosecutors saying that Flynn lied to the FBI, and a United States District Court Judge saying that Flynn lied, and that lying inside the White House by the NSA concerning matters of state is a serious matter, we have one more element:

Michael Flynn says he lied. He admits it. Facing the possibility of federal prison time, notwithstanding a Department of Justice recommendation for no jail time, Flynn has confessed to felony lying to the FBI.


Flynn has pleaded guilty, and he has cooperated with the Office of Special Counsel. Why are you Trumpkins not calling him a "rat"?

Kevin म्हणाले...

Didn't see this outcome coming.

Once they threaten you with a long imprisonment and are willing to go easy on you, it seems you no longer care to what you plead guilty.

Mueller sees this as a feature, but will the courts continue to play along?

Chuck म्हणाले...


"This is one of those threads that makes it seem that many of Ann's readers are actually Russian bots..."


Topping the list of Things I Wish I Had Written Today.

iowan2 म्हणाले...

Chuck you forgot to answer the, why. Why did Comey send two agents into the White House with a set of questions they already had answers to?

narciso म्हणाले...

Which administration sent # and c rations and who sent javelin missiles and defeated their mercenaries on Syrian soil.

Nonapod म्हणाले...

This is one of those threads that makes it seem that many of Ann's readers are actually Russian bots

I'm sure not a Russian bot. To be clear, I think of Putin as basically crime boss, an oppressive regional bully who has unquestionably jailed, tortured, and murdered many, many people he sees as threats.

He most likely bombed a bunch of apartments in the late 90s to instigate the second Chenchen war. He poisoned Alexander Litvinenko with polonium so he would face a horrific death. He poisoned several poor souls in the U.K. earlier this year. He's had reporters jailed and killed. He allowed Sergei Magnitsky to die painfully in jail.

He's about as dangerously evil a dude as you're gonna get in the modern world. And if any real, actual evidence ever materializes that clearly demostrates that Trump was absolutely in cahoots with him against the American people I'd be the first to want Trump gone, believe me. So far, I haven't seen it.

narciso म्हणाले...

Which actually had real sanctions, it's like a narrative stealth shield that blocks reality.

Gahrie म्हणाले...

Well but he did the right thing in the Steven's case, even though he let the kangaroo trial go on in the first place.

The damage had already been done.

narciso म्हणाले...

Yes Obama had his 59th vote with Begich the high school drop out, Franken was the 60th.

narciso म्हणाले...

Well according to boddansky it was probably a joint operation with Chechen militants. That story came through politskayava, who was brave but a little too trusting

JPS म्हणाले...

chuck:

"Is the Althouse commentariat going to line up behind the guy that Trump fired for lying to his Vice President?"

Is this really the point?

I thought he was a damn good intel chief for JSOC, maybe not such a good DIA head. I respect his three stars and 30+ years of service, even as I slightly mistrust any intel guy and anyone above the rank of colonel. I thought he was way too fresh out of uniform to be participating in political rallies on the campaign trail - that's his right and he wasn't the first, but it's bad form. I think generals/admirals should aspire to Mattis levels of No Comment on partisan matters, and if the mask comes off more or less the day they start wearing civilian clothes, it undermines the public stance of "We defend the nation."

Having said all that, I think some very senior law enforcement officials went after him for two main reasons, to which what he actually did wrong is incidental: One, to get a very big scalp early on and embarrass the hell out of Trump; two, because they hated his guts. It doesn't require me to excuse his lobbying for Turkey or his lying (for which he deserved to be fired) to say that's not the system I want - where if they decide to get you, they'll nail you, they can always find something; and if they decide you're one of the good guys, an awful lot can be swept under the rug.

So yeah - if that's lining up behind him, I guess I am, which no doubt tells John Pickering I'm essentially a witting agent of Putin! And you, since you wish you'd written that fresh and original take.

JPS म्हणाले...

Nonapod, 2:09: Well said!

Ron Winkleheimer म्हणाले...

as it begins to turn out that the President, along with his national security adviser, his former attorney general, his campaign managers as well as perhaps his vice president and at least two of his children, are actually or were formerly the witting agents of the Russian state, intelligence and organized crime interests,

Is this parody? I find it hard to believe that anyone can be this obtuse.

Jaq म्हणाले...

McCarthy was only wrong in that he attacked the left.

Jaq म्हणाले...

Tailgunner Chuck.

Drago म्हणाले...

It is very helpful when LLR Chuck decides to remove all doubt who he really is.

Overall, it's one of the best features of the Trump Administration: the continued de-masking of all the democrat/lefty 5th columnists.

Going forward there will be no way for the usual suspects to pretend they are anything other than what they are.

It's most useful and clarifying.

MikeR म्हणाले...

Apparently the judge has now apologized for suggesting that Flynn committed treason, noting that his work for Turkey ended before the administration began. What in the world is going on here?

Drago म्हणाले...

LLR Chuck has another conservative military member he can attack while going full Bowe Bergdahl in his passionate and repeated defense of Da Nang Dick.

Once again, very clarifying.

BTW, it sure was "fortunate" that somebody tipped off Tony Podesta (who was working with Flynn in the Ukraine) to get that FARA registration in place just 2 weeks before Flynn was indicted.

That is some very fortunate timing indeed.......

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

Pleading guilty becuase you were forced to sell your house and are out of money to fight while being threatened with more prosecution including going after family members is something I think most any one of us would do knowing the history of Muller and his lieutenants.

That said, if Flynn actually committed serious crimes, he should pay the price. The problem with that is that we know many more serious violations being ignored, and we know why, and that is far worse than anything Flynn, Cohen, Manafort and all the rest could have possibly done, even if the worst allegations are true. Just for starters, did any of them give our enemies full real time access to years of correspondence among the highest State Department officials and the President of the United States. How do any of their crimes compare?

Ron Winkleheimer म्हणाले...

What in the world is going on here?

Its possible it just might be that he started to get negative feedback from his social circle for questioning the government's narrative.

Drago म्हणाले...

MikeR: "Apparently the judge has now apologized for suggesting that Flynn committed treason, noting that his work for Turkey ended before the administration began. What in the world is going on here?


The Judge, knowing that the far left and LLR Chuck's of the world needed a quickie talking point to buttress the hoax russia dossier inspired set up, wanted to make sure he used that particular word.

In that way, the charge of "treason!!" by an actual federal judge will go around the world eleventy-billion times and by the time the Judge corrected such an obvious "mistake" (purposeful), the lefties and the LLR's know that no one will hear that.

Ever.

I guarantee that by tomorrow morning the word "treason" will be dutifully amplified by the LLR Chuck's and their beloved lefty MSM'ers all over the world.

In the same way that many, like LLR Chuck, actually believe Sarah Palin said "I can see Russia from my house", this too will serve its purpose in helping the democrats take total control of Washington DC. Which is, in fact, the actual goal of the Dems/Lefties/LLR's.

Obviously.

Who cares if Flynn served his nation faithfully for 35 years in uniform with years and years of combat duty and bronze stars.

LLR Chuck and his friends want Trump out, and that's all that matters. The fact that Chuck, who never served but will offer astonishingly long explanations for why that is, gets another opportunity to trash a patriotic military veteran who is conservative, well, that's just gravy baby. Gravy.....

narciso म्हणाले...

So hes believed much more libelous things about her, which a certain degenerate up there fed to Joe mcguinness.

John Pickering म्हणाले...

So, this gets published by the Washington Post:

Pages generated by the Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency elicited nearly 40 million likes and more than 30 million shares on Facebook alone, reeling in susceptible users with provocative advertisements and then giving them propaganda to spread far and wide. The aim was not to toss the country into tumult, but to put the preferred candidate of a foreign adversary in the Oval Office. All the while, Americans were entirely unaware of what was happening...[.]

And Ann's readers will react with outrage: against the Washington Post! What is the difference between much of Ann's commentariat and the Russian propaganda? Nothing, really. Many of Ann's readers are, one might say, something ranging from the dupes, to the stooges, to the unwitting agents of the Russian state security and intelligence services. Many seem to believe that Hillary is the kingpin and mastermind of an international criminal organization and that Donald Trump is an honest, decent man who's devoted to public service.

Drago म्हणाले...

Look at how Isikoff, the key "reporter" used by Bill Kristol's closest friends at the rabid pro-Clinton FusionGPS club to break open the hoax dossier story that the left/LLR's swallowed whole, suddenly has decided that darn dossier, which spawned all this activity, well, shucks, it sure looks like nothing is there after all!!

Gee, just in time for the dems/left/LLR's to shift the talking points to the next fake impeachable offense.

It's as old a lefty/LLR trick as there is. No different than what LLR Chuck's dem allies tried to do to Reagan with Iran Contra (thank goodness HW finally pardoned Cap Weinberger and not listening to the LLR's who railed against it). No different than how the dems were going to frogmarch W and Rove out of the white house over the faked up Plame affair.

What was different this time is LLR Chuck's dem pals have their hands on the astonishing electronic spying capabilities ushered in after 9-11 and the dems have fully weaponized that data.

LLR Chuck's "magnificent" obama used those capabilities to go after opponents of the Iran Deal (which Cuck Corker defended passionately...hmmmmmm), also to spy on the Senate and members of Congress (admitted under oath), also to spy on those in our govt friendly to Israel.

The dems are just getting cranked up. And if the dems get back in power (LLR Chuck's fever dream), and they just might, expect to see those capabilities weaponized to such an extent, and combined with the full weaponization of the rest of the federal govt (IRS/Tea Party targeting), along with "ballot harvesting Gone Wild" and LLR Chuck's favorite Open Borders Plans, well.

I think we all know the dems are never going to make the same mistake of letting an actual opponent win the Presidency.

Still, life and events are not linear. We have not reached the end of history just yet (sorry Francis Fukuyama). All we can do is continue to fight for our original republic principles.

Drago म्हणाले...

Apparently Pickering has not been disabused of his earlier misunderstanding of this hack "Oxford" "study" by far leftists.

You might as well go full lancet.

Poor Pickering. He never quite figured out Supply and Demand yet, but he wants to dip his toes into other waters.

It's adorable in a way. Like watching a 1 year old eat peanut butter.

John Pickering म्हणाले...

Judge Sullivan giving Flynn one final shot to withdraw his guilty plea. Judge asks if he wants to proceed.

FLYNN: “I would like to proceed.”

Because you’re guilty?

FLYNN: “Yes, your honor.”

Now proceeding.

How does this even happen?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

We force people to plead guilty - or else.

pacwest म्हणाले...

"Is the Althouse commentariat going to line up behind the guy that Trump fired for lying to his Vice President?"

If you are capable of applying context to the situation like most intelligent people are (and that seems to be something less than 35% of the population),then, yes, I am.

Do I think Flynn is a traitor who schemed to sell out his country? No. Do I think Putin has some leverage on President Trump and Trump is willing to sell out the USA because of it? No.

Do I have a fear that if the
Dems/Clintons/Globalists win this fight that the country, myself, and those I care about will suffer. Yes.

Chuck, I've accused you of TDS often enough, and you've seemed disengenous often enough, but until now I've never thought you were stupid. The context of the Flynn case matters.

YoungHegelian म्हणाले...

@John Pickering,

Many of Ann's readers are, one might say, something ranging from the dupes, to the stooges, to the unwitting agents of the Russian state security and intelligence services.

You understand that change "Russian" to "Soviet" & you become the 21st C equivalent of a 1950s-60s John Bircher, don't you?

If you're seeing tin foil hats, you might be seeing your own reflection.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Yeah - still waiting for that Private Server while head of THE STATE DEPARTMENT to matter - legally. Because if that doesn't matter, what can?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

The Judge's theatrics suggest he's a Hillary supporter. which would mean HE is compromised.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-12-18/michael-flynn-sentencing-washington-owes-him-an-apology

iowan2 म्हणाले...

Judge Sullivan giving Flynn one final shot to withdraw his guilty plea. Judge asks if he wants to proceed.

FLYNN: “I would like to proceed.”

Because you’re guilty?

FLYNN: “Yes, your honor.”

Now proceeding.

How does this even happen?


No. Not proceeding. Waiting. The Judge told the defense it is in the best interest of Flynn to wait on sentencing. Sentencing that all agreed, zero prison. The Judge said, 'wait, as the judge in charge here, I am telling you, as the person subject to my final ruling, that you should wait. By waiting, you will get a better deal from me.'

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Why wait? What is the waiting for? Greedy politics.

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"including that he worked to advance the interests of the Turkish government in the United States during the 2016 presidential campaign"

How often does a judge smear a defendant and then have to correct himself?

Jupiter म्हणाले...

pacwest said...

"Chuck, I've accused you of TDS often enough, and you've seemed disengenous often enough, but until now I've never thought you were stupid."

Chuck isn't stupid. Chuck is the smart one. Igna is the stupid one.

ga6 म्हणाले...

Rumor has it that the Feebs told the Judge they would;d burn the photos if he did "the right thing". They did not mention the audio and video...

Jaq म्हणाले...

John Pickering, still waiting for that evidence that the emails were altered, "to make Hillary look bad."

Jaq म्हणाले...

Pickering is sort of like the rodeo clown, except that he's not smarter than the bulls. He's too stupid to even understand what goes on here. But he adds color. I still prefer Strumpit though, for comic relief.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

Not surprising that WaPo would miss the most important thing Sullivan said at the hearing today:

"I cannot recall any incident in which the court has accepted a plea of guilty from someone who maintained he was not guilty and I don’t intend to start today."

Sullivan is basically saying here that he knows Flynn took a plea for something Flynn doesn't think he actually did. I think today's hearing shows that Sullivan doesn't want to except this plea as arranged, but can't throw it out because Flynn took it to avoid more damaging charges on the FARA violations. There was one section of the hearing that was badly reported, but it appears that Sullivan was probing to see if Flynn has immunity on the FARA charges, and it appears that he does not have such immunity. So, if Sullivan refuses to accept the plea, the deal Flynn made to avoid FARA charges, then Sullivan opens Flynn to being prosecuted by Mueller on the FARA charges.

I think Sullivan is trying to do one of two things here- either get Flynn to withdraw his plea, or Sullivan wants to wait until the FARA charges are no longer hanging over Flynn's head. Additionally, I don't think Sullivan is happy having Flynn get on on the FARA stuff so easily by entering this particular plea, which is unconnected entirely to the FARA investigation- this was the point Sullivan was making when he was querying which law Flynn broke when talking to Kisylak- he made the prosecution admit there was no law broken.

Douglas2 म्हणाले...

AJ Lynch - In the many Thanksgiving weekend reminiscences of the events depicted in the Arlo Guthry song "Alices Restaurant" what struck me most was that the crime was committed on a Thursday that was a holiday (Nov25, 1965), the investigation was completed and the arrests were made the following day on a Friday (Nov 26), and on the Saturday (Nov 27) they appeared in court, paid the fine, and cleaned up their mess.

It's all recorded in a dispassionate local newspaper article from Monday November 29 1965, as if such speed of justice and the investigation of a littering complaint was nothing unusual.

pacwest म्हणाले...

"Chuck isn't stupid. Chuck is the smart one. Igna is the stupid one."

I don't think of Inga as stupid, just unwilling or unable to drag out her assumptions and weigh them against reality.

Chuck's statements on this thread do border on stupidity though. If he doesn't realize why people would be reflexively upset that Flynn is called a traitor with the mounting evidence against Clinton and crew I consider him willfully obtuse.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

One has to ask why Mueller offered this plea deal instead of offering one on the FARA charges instead- the exact part of the investigation on which Flynn is cooperating. Mueller could have easily gotten Flynn to plead to the FARA charges, thus supporting his own case against the other people he has indicted. However, instead, the only guilty plea he offers to accept from Flynn is one completely unrelated to the FARA investigation, and for no underlying crime, as the prosecution admitted this afternoon.

Seriously, Flynn would have been willing to plead to the FARA violations in return for a year in prison. This, I think, is the crux of Sullivan's problem with accepting the plea deal- he (1) thinks Flynn doesn't really think he lied, and (2) Sullivan doesn't like that Flynn is skating with no jail time on the FARA violation by pleading to a completely unrelated issue.

MeatPopscicle1234 म्हणाले...

Mike said...
I was a Flynn supporter until today. I had not heard about the unregistered agent charges not pursued by Mueller. That's just bad form to not disclose that in the acting NSA position. I think now Flynn pled guilty to a crime he didn’t commit (lying to the FBI) to avoid the far more serious FARA charges involving Turkey.

-------

But again Mike... what does Flynn that have to do with Trump/Russia collusion, unless Mueller is implying that Turkey was acting as a proxy for Russia and Flynn was acting as a proxy for Trump, the entire thing is BS...

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

In short, I think Sullivan showed today that justice and proper legal order is important to him, and this plea deal serves neither- Flynn took despite not really thinking it just, and it was offered by Mueller for purely political reasons having nothing to do with justice.

I think it quite possible that if the FARA issue is settled by March, Sullivan throws Flynn's plea out. In the interim, though, Mueller might want to consider withdrawing the offer himself, and get Flynn to plead on the FARA stuff instead.

Chuck म्हणाले...

pacwest said...
"Chuck isn't stupid. Chuck is the smart one. Igna is the stupid one."

I don't think of Inga as stupid, just unwilling or unable to drag out her assumptions and weigh them against reality.

Chuck's statements on this thread do border on stupidity though. If he doesn't realize why people would be reflexively upset that Flynn is called a traitor with the mounting evidence against Clinton and crew I consider him willfully obtuse.



Who called Flynn a traitor?

Not me.

Not the DoJ or the OSC. Flynn was never charged with treason. No one made that claim.

The District Court Judge made a remark about treason, in a colloquy with the AUSA. And later, after a break, the Judge made it clear that he, a judge who had never been assigned a treason case, was not suggesting that Flynn should have been charged with treason.

So no; I am not aware of anyone making any sort of serious allegation of treason versus Defendant Flynn, and your suggesting it, pacwest, seems to me like some major stupidity. That, and also the now-routine bleating about, "But what about Hillary?!?"

Matt Sablan म्हणाले...

When threatened with death, you know, for treason, Flynn recanted.

The Crucible was a warning not a guidebook.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

Here is what Mueller should have done if the FARA violations are clear cut: he should have dropped the Logan Act/process portion of the Flynn investigation, and charged Flynn on the FARA violations. If Flynn is guilty of those, and it should be easy to demonstrate this, then Flynn would have taken a plea deal with some prison time and fines in exchange for his cooperation in prosecuting his colleagues. This is how such prosecutions normally are done, but in this particular case, Flynn was allowed to not plead on the FARA violations, not be indicted and tried on them, and was allowed a no-jail term plea on a completely unrelated process crime for which there was no underlying legal violation.

Browndog म्हणाले...

Half of Washington D.C, most of the high powered law firms are lobbyists for foreign entities/governments.

Nobody registers because FARA hasn't been enforced for decades....until Mueller.

Suddenly, without warning, the Logan Act and FARA are top crimes in the age of Trump.

Please....

chuck म्हणाले...

Seems the judge got some dates mixed up. That's not a good look for the judiciary.

Matt Sablan म्हणाले...

Come on. This is like claiming Trump doesn't mean the dick things be says when he backtweets later. The judge's statement was clearly inappropriate and intended to threaten Flynn. Not with death as I exaggerated but with an "or else."

Browndog म्हणाले...

A good rundown-Flynn Perjury Trap Was McCabe’s Personal Revenge

AZ Bob म्हणाले...

Flynn took the deal to keep his son safe from Meuller. That’s the quo pro quo.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

An analogy will put the problem Sullivan faced today in a better light:

Suppose someone hired me to kill someone and I did it, but got caught in the act. The prosecution would normally offer me a plea deal for, lets say manslaughter, in return for me giving evidence against the person who hired me. I might get 15 years instead of a life sentence.

However, the prosecution could offer to have me plead guilty to a burglary that was committed in my neighborhood. I would take it even if I didn't actually do the burglary because it would come with only 1 year in prison. And, again, I would be testifying in a murder for hire trial- a murder I actually committed.

I think that is how Sullivan is viewing the Flynn plea deal. He doesn't want to have to accept it, but can't throw it out just yet either. So he kicked the can.

Matt Sablan म्हणाले...

I don't see why this judge gets credit for asking for a document we all should expect the FBI has destroyed or altered as they did with other evidence

Chuck म्हणाले...

Yancey Ward: your longish post at 4:25 PM is perfectly off the mark.

The statement that you quoted from the District Judge wasn't an expression of judicial sympathy with Flynn. No; it was a chop-down of Flynn's attorneys' trashtalking about the methods of the FBI questioning.

Translated into shorter plain English, the Judge was saying, I am not going to sentence you -- and particularly sentence you with zero jail time -- if you are somehow denying your guilt. Don't plead guilty, and then in your sentencing memo claim that the questioning of you by the FBI was unfair and was some kind of vague entrapment. Don't play that game with this Court. If you want to do that, I am going to look into those circumstances seriously and if you are no longer accepting your guilt and instead now claiming innocence, I am going to have a new look at all of this and you might be going to jail, if I think that you are playing games with this...

Flynn's lawyers fucked this up. They fucked up by playing word games with how they talked about McCabe and Strzok.

Chuck म्हणाले...

Yancey Ward; you have posed an interesting analogy, with a murder-for-hire plea deal.

Now what was Michael Flynn's "murder"?

Matt Sablan म्हणाले...

The FBI has admitted to telling him he didn't need a lawyer. I don't see anything wrong with Flynn saying I lied to them but they set me up and broke various rules and ethics to do so.

hombre म्हणाले...

Blatantly unethical conduct by the judge. “Arguably?” Really, Judge?

When did the responsibilities of an “impartial” judge come to include making arguments based on facts that probably came from WaPo and not the casefile?

pacwest म्हणाले...

"But what about Hillary?!?"

And now you're into Drago territory Chuck. And the "What about Hillary" comment is beyond stupid.

We are witnessing the largest scale corruption this country has ever seen being covered up, and you want to equate it to 'Hillary revenge'. I equate it to the health of the Republic. And my viewpoint isn't going to change because the moronic cover of "what about hillary" meme has gained traction to the point it is now being used as a deflection.

I will accept my comeuppance re the treason/Flynn statement however. I have gathered more info, and you are correct in what you state regarding the judge and prosecutor (note I did not say You said Flynn was a traitor, so not sure why you felt you had to cover that). My statement about your obtuseness still stands though. I don't really give a flying monkey about the Mueller investigation other than the cover it gives the real crooks. Much as I like the achievements and possibilities Trump represents I would more than happy to see him pulled under if he could drag the real traitors down with him.

What about Hillary my ass.

Chuck म्हणाले...

Matthew Sablan said...
The FBI has admitted to telling him he didn't need a lawyer. I don't see anything wrong with Flynn saying I lied to them but they set me up and broke various rules and ethics to do so.


Flynn can do that. He can do that, and get 18 months in a federal prison.

You see, Matthew, this judge is telegraphing that his sentencing of this defendant is not going to be used by anyone to attack, or play games with, the FBI.

This is a United States District Court, not the Hannity! show.

Jupiter म्हणाले...

Yancey Ward said...
"This is how such prosecutions normally are done, but in this particular case, Flynn was allowed to not plead on the FARA violations, not be indicted and tried on them, and was allowed a no-jail term plea on a completely unrelated process crime for which there was no underlying legal violation."

Well, OK. You have explained why you think Flynn is willing to plead to a crime he didn't commit. Could you now explain why Mueller would prefer such a plea?

Browndog म्हणाले...

Gen. Flynn was a top level spook. Why would he tell anyone, including a couple agents from the FBI the truth about anything--on a need to know basis--unless he know it was under penalty of perjury.

Which is why they pretended this was a casual visit.

pacwest म्हणाले...

I would also like to point out that this entire shitshow is about the Clinton/Dem/Globalists. Trump is incidental to it. No whattabout to it.

Matt Sablan म्हणाले...

It isn't playing games to reveal unethical practices by law enforcement.

Browndog म्हणाले...

You can blame Flynn all you want for wanting to take the plea and get out from Mueller, and not exposing the truth.

Mueller, and his prosecutors have a history. Ruthless.

Once upon a time Paul Manafort decided to fight Mueller. Within a week he was wearing two ankle bracelets, 15 more felonies in two different jurisdictions.

yea, no thanks.

We used to laugh at countries that had judicial systems that operated this way. We called them 3rd World.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM म्हणाले...

did the 2 witnesses in the Clinton Foundation case show it acted as an Agent of a Foreign Govt ?
why did the judge today curiously mention treason regarding Flynn acting as an Agent of a Foreign Govt?
why does Flynn seem to want to be sentenced?

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com म्हणाले...

If you are as pissed off about this 2 year travesty as I am, donate to the General Flynn defense fund:

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/12/urgent-this-christmas-season-please-remember-to-donate-to-the-michael-t-flynn-defense-fund/

I just gave $100. Anyone here want to top me?

John Henry

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com म्हणाले...

Blogger Browndog said...

We used to laugh at countries that had judicial systems that operated this way. We called them 3rd World.

I call them shitholes.

What is happening to Flynn is shithole justice.

John Henry

Birkel म्हणाले...

Mueller did not oursue the FARA angle because then the treatment of Podesta is the secondary issue.
Mueller wanted Trump to be the secondary issue.
The guilt by association game is tricky.

Browndog म्हणाले...

I just gave $100. Anyone here want to top me?

Matching..

Chuck म्हणाले...

Matthew Sablan said...
It isn't playing games to reveal unethical practices by law enforcement.


Yeah, and it was certainly not "playing games" when the federal district judge today asked Flynn if he was really guilty:

"I would like to proceed, your honor," Flynn said.
Sullivan asked, "Because you're guilty of this offense?"
"Yes, your honor," Flynn said, nodding.

narciso म्हणाले...

yes, about that,


https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/techwatch/corinne-weaver/2018/12/17/google-funded-liberal-study-saying-russia-aided-gop-online

khuzaimi, the persecutor up in new York city, has a very selective history of not going after big subprime, and pursuing a tiny boutique Chinese bank,

Chuck म्हणाले...


PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...
If you are as pissed off about this 2 year travesty as I am, donate to the General Flynn defense fund:

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/12/urgent-this-christmas-season-please-remember-to-donate-to-the-michael-t-flynn-defense-fund/

I just gave $100. Anyone here want to top me?

John Henry


Haha. The court just ordered that Flynn surrender his passport.

If I were Flynn's lawyer, I'd write an Op-Ed under Flynn's name saying how sorry he was for attacking the FBI, and how sorry he was to have been part of the Trump Administration, and what he will propose to do in fulfilling his 400 hours of community service and full cooperation with the OSC.

And get Flynn to approve it and send it to the Washington Post.

Browndog म्हणाले...

Earth to Chuck-

Sullivan through around the term "treason" to a career Patriot, 3 star General, to get him to reconsider his "guilt".

Why would that be?

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com म्हणाले...

As far as I know, Gen Flynn has only been charged with a single crime:

He made a false statement to the FBI and is charged with violation of 18 USC S 1001 (False statements)

I would copy and paste the actual charge but can't find a text version. You can read the whole thing, all 5 short paragraphs, here:

https://www.scribd.com/document/366042374/FULL-TEXT-Michael-Flynn-Indictment

He was not charged with colluding with the Russians, not with violation of the Logan Act, not with anything else at all that I can see.

Somebody please tell me what else he is charged with and where I can see the indictment if I am wrong.

This makes the Judge's charge of "Treason" even more shocking. Lying to the FBI about a meeting is now "Treason"? Really?


U.S. Constitution - Article 3 Section 3
Article 3 - The Judicial Branch
Section 3 - Treason

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

[emph added]

So the FBI is an "enemy"? I do think the judge got that right. The FBI has consistently been corrupt and an enemy of the United States and citizens for 100 years now. It was born of corruption.

Time for it to go.

John Henry

अनामित म्हणाले...

Our Chuck: You see, Matthew, this judge is telegraphing that his sentencing of this defendant is not going to be used by anyone to attack, or play games with, the FBI.

This is a United States District Court, not the Hannity! show.


Followed by:

Haha. The court just ordered that Flynn surrender his passport.

If I were Flynn's lawyer, I'd write an Op-Ed under Flynn's name saying how sorry he was for attacking the FBI, and how sorry he was to have been part of the Trump Administration, and what he will propose to do in fulfilling his 400 hours of community service and full cooperation with the OSC.

And get Flynn to approve it and send it to the Washington Post.



In case anyone was still wondering what the "principles" behind "principled conservatism" are.

Birkel म्हणाले...

And the fopdoodle demonstrates my point, above.
FARA was out of the question because that does not lead to Trump.
FARA leads to Podesta and therefore Clinton.
And since everybody voted for Jill Stein...

iowan2 म्हणाले...

You see, Matthew, this judge is telegraphing that his sentencing of this defendant is not going to be used by anyone to attack, or play games with, the FBI.

Bull shit. The game was already played. Over. Clock at zero. Why didn't the Judge just sentence Flynn today? Teach the lesson you claim is center of this bit of theater?
Mueller wants the Flynn fuckup behind him. He is more upset than Flynn. The longer Mueller's actions are in the open, the more risk to Mueller.
The answers are all there. All you have to do is look.
Like, why did Comey send two agents to the White House to ask questions they already had the answers to?
Your good at reading the Judges mind. Now do Comey

Brian म्हणाले...

Well, OK. You have explained why you think Flynn is willing to plead to a crime he didn't commit. Could you now explain why Mueller would prefer such a plea?

I’ll try.

Because he needs Flynn to plead guilty to a RUSSIAN related crime. So that he can put in his report that Trump committed obstruction in firing Comey and for telling Comey that he hopes Comey can “let this one go”...

Trump didn’t talk with Comey about any FARA violations. He probably didn’t even know.

No Flynn-Russia connection, no obstruction.

narciso म्हणाले...

chuck is all excited over Gretchen wilmer, like an acquaintance was over Jennifer granholm, and Rashida 'hamas' tlaib, or is it al quds brigades,

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com म्हणाले...

Blogger Brian said...

Because he needs Flynn to plead guilty to a RUSSIAN related crime.

Doesn't he need to be charged with something before he can plead guilty to it?

What has he been charged with other than a false statement to the FBI?

John Henry

n.n म्हणाले...

So, the collusion of Democrat and Republican agents was with Turkey, during Obama's administration, perhaps in close association with the saved war in Iraq, and new wars in Syria, Ukraine, and elsewhere.

Jaq म्हणाले...

I agree that it's irrelevant that Hillary took 150 million from the Russians and made decisions that were in Russia's best interests, then deleted thousands of emails from the time. Not to mention illegally destroying records of meetings with foreigners as testified to by Huma.

Ajnal म्हणाले...

Such a delusional outpour! This is the most un-serious discussion of current events I think I have read.

Is this the comment section of an Onion article?


wildswan म्हणाले...

Our agents died because of secrets Hillary Clinton exposed while Secretary of State by her unsecured server. So, it seems to me that that was treason - aiding our enemies to kill our friends. General Flynn on the other hand, is fighting the Battle of the Deep Swamp - aiding our friends and opposing our enemies; and that may be treason to to the Swamp but not to the USA.

Brian म्हणाले...

Yes the false statement charge is a Russian related crime. Flynn was telling about his conversation with the RUSSIANambassador.

That conversation led to Flynn’s firing and a meeting between Comey and Trump prior to Trump firing Comey.

Jaq म्हणाले...

This is all Calvinball. Lois Lerner took the fifth then denied her guilt, while she was taking the fifth.

Jaq म्हणाले...

Bring some facts Anjel or go back to Tumblr.

Birkel म्हणाले...

Serious query:
What do commenters like Ajnal think they are accomplishing?

narciso म्हणाले...

it was after the auto coup, ergonokon 2 electric boogaloo, the first one was when gulen grey wolved the Turkish officer corps, he ended up the odd man out, technically turkey is a nato ally, who is destabilizing other allies like germany and france, not to mention targets south and west of the country, they sponsored the free Syrian army that kept defecting to al queda,

Browndog म्हणाले...

I wish people would remember how the dominoes began to fall-

Yes, the plot, and it's execution started many months earlier, but the actual sequence of events that lead to Mueller is quite remarkable.

Shortly after 9:30 a.m EST Sen. Al Franken questions AG nominee Jeff Sessions about a report in the Huffington Post, posted an hour earlier, that he in fact did meet with a Russian, and didn't disclose it. (Kysliak--that Obama sent to all the Senators office, that was not required to be disclosed by the FBI being standard duties of a Senator).

From there, Sessions promised to recuse after being blindsided, and here we are-

Chuck म्हणाले...

narciso said...
chuck is all excited over Gretchen wilmer, like an acquaintance was over Jennifer granholm, and Rashida 'hamas' tlaib, or is it al quds brigades,


It's "Whitmer," not "wilmer" [sic]. And I voted against her. I voted for Trumpist nominee Bill Schuette. After voting for the Lieutenant General, Brian Calley, in the primary.

I never once voted for the laughable former Miss San Carlos (and once again California/Canada resident) Jennifer Granholm.

And I was the Althouse commenter who pointed out that Rashida Tlaib was arrested for disorderly conduct/trespassing as she attempted to shout down candidate Trump at a meeting of the Economic Club of Detroit. Reprehensible conduct, for someone in public service. I was also the guy who linked to this article in the Weekly Standard about her.

Howard म्हणाले...

More winning!!!!!!!

narciso म्हणाले...

wooptie do, you get a cookie, seriously chuck, you test our patience,

Browndog म्हणाले...

Chuck said...

AHOY!

Chuck म्हणाले...

Browndog said...
Earth to Chuck-

Sullivan through around the term "treason" to a career Patriot, 3 star General, to get him to reconsider his "guilt".

Why would that be?


That wasn't what was going on. Neither you nor I have been with Judge Sullivan in his chambers to discuss this case or this hearing. But it seems to me (and you certainly don't know any better), that the Judge wasn't trying to get Flynn to reconsider his guilt. Rather, the Judge was pushing back against the statements made on Flynn's behalf that Flynn wasn't so much guilty of the crime of lying to the FBI, as he was a victim of unfair actions by FBI agents. And my read of Judge Sullivan is that he was really pissed off by that suggestion. And I just saw former terrorism prosecutor, former federal district judge, and former U.S. Attorney General (Bush 43) Michael Mukasey say much the same on the Fox News Channel a few minutes ago.

iowan2 म्हणाले...

It's plain that the FBI is corrupt in leadership. They have all been fired, or ran before they could get fired.
Answering why the FBI interviewed Flynn exposes that corruption.

Sadly, Flynn can't afford to be the man to expose them. Mustly because no Republicans will support Flynn.

Brian म्हणाले...

Chuck, why not sentence him today, then? What will change his mind in the next 3 1/2 months? Why the walk back on the treason statements later?

Muelller can’t be happy about this. He wasn’t pushing for a delay. He was recommending no jail time. This was a done deal.

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

“If you proceed today”? What will be different tomorrow? Curious, very curious.

Howard म्हणाले...

The judge squeezing him to sing more songs to Mueller.

Ajnal म्हणाले...

Oh but this is a fact-free zone, is it not?

John Pickering म्हणाले...

The other thing that pissed the judge off was what Flynn was lying about: his secret talks as US NSA with the Russian ambassador in the White House about lifting sanctions. Flynn lied, and admitted he knowingly lied, about his role in the central issue between the US and Russia, and it's not clear why, if you give him any credit as a patriot. He may well be reconsidering his ricochet off his firing by Obama and his embrace of Trumpery, and remembering the oath he took as a US Army officer.
Anyway the judge has now seized Flynn's passport and confined him to 50 miles of DC. Oh well. So unfair!

Chuck म्हणाले...

Brian said...
Chuck, why not sentence him today, then? What will change his mind in the next 3 1/2 months? Why the walk back on the treason statements later?

Muelller can’t be happy about this. He wasn’t pushing for a delay. He was recommending no jail time. This was a done deal.


I don't know. As I wrote earlier, Judge Sullivan knows more than we do. All of those many redacted pages that we haven't been able to read at this point? We haven't read them, but Judge Sullivan has. He may have more reason to think that Flynn should be in jail than we know about.

Inga...Allie Oop म्हणाले...

“I just gave $100. Anyone here want to top me?”

LOL

“Matching..”

LOLing some more, a lot actually.

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"he was a victim of unfair actions by FBI agents"

He was.

They interviewed him only to see if they could nail him.

They did not inform him fully of their purpose.

They did not investigate a crime, and they had all the information they needed on the non-crime, thanks to illegal unmasking.

They illegally leaked information to the Washington Post to discredit him.

They did not follow procedure in recording the outcome of the interview. (The procedure itself, relying on agent notes after the fact, is absurd -- but that applies to the FBI generally.)

As best we can tell, the interviewing agents did not initially think Flynn lied.

As best we can tell, Flynn admitted "guilt" because he could not to afford to defend himself vigorously. (Again, not limited to Flynn, but a nasty feature of American "law.")

When the process creates the crime, the defendant is ipso facto the victim of "unfair actions."

Birkel म्हणाले...

Sullivan has reason to believe Flynn has copped to lying to avoid FARA difficulties.
Sullivan said so in open court.

Why did the FBI question Flynn about conversations they had recorded after misleading the FISA Court to get warrants on four Americans? And why did the FBI violate the 4th Amendment rights of those Americans? And those within the two hop rule?

All questions are equal. Some questions are more equal than others.

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"Arguably, you sold your country out."

That was baseless smear uttered by a sitting judge in open court.

Inga...Allie Oop म्हणाले...

“Arguably, you sold your country out."

“That was baseless smear uttered by a sitting judge in open court.”

How do you know it was baseless? Do you know what Judge Sullivan knows?

Big Mike म्हणाले...

The only way I can understand this episode is that someone used a backdoor channel to feed a line of bull to the judge. Is that ethical on the part of the judge? I won’t ask whether it’s ethical on the part of Mueller’s team; their ethics are negligible on their best day.

Birkel म्हणाले...

The standard is prejudicial.
What the judge said betrayed potential bias.
The process matters more than the people.
The Leftists who cheer the destruction of process are cheering a coming violence.

Howard म्हणाले...

I pledge allegations to the Flynn of the United Scs of Trump. For the rich we stand, one notion under gold for larceny and injustice for all.

Brian म्हणाले...

He may have more reason to think that Flynn should be in jail than we know about.

That doesn’t fit the facts though. If he wanted him to be in jail he can make him go to jail. Today! For far longer than the prosecution was recommending!

A judge can’t force a prosecutor to charge a different crime and he can’t force a defendant to plea to a different crime. He can just sentence what’s before him. Why not now? So Flynn can cooperate more? He’s already cooperated if you believe Mueller. They recommended no jail time!

This has to screw up plans for both Mueller and Flynnn. What plan does the judge have?

Michael म्हणाले...

Inga
The venerable judge hastily walked that comment back.

Drago म्हणाले...

Inga-Selector Of Ill-Fated Next Leaders Of The Free World: "How do you know it was baseless? Do you know what Judge Sullivan knows?"

In this matter, yes we do.

We know because Judge Sullivan himself, after returning to the Courtroom after the break had to take back his false slurs related to the false charge of Flynn treason, selling out his country, and serving as an unregistered foreign agent while serving in the White House.

Further, Flynn is not charged with any of those things.

But the talking point has been created as evidenced by Ingas and Chuck's mindless lefty drivel.

A 35 year, multi-year multi-bronze star awardee, now being falsely accused of treason by lefty nurses from milwaukee who defended deserter and collaborator Bowe Bergdahl.

As expected.

Drago म्हणाले...

Howard, in addition to false charges of treason you want to lob in larceny?

Why not just go all the way with gang-rape as with Kavanaugh?

Brian म्हणाले...

Addendum: After today if Flynn withdraws his plea and goes to trial or Mueller charges Flynn with something else, wouldn’t the resulting trial be handled by a judge other than Sullivan?

I would think the treason comment would be prejudicial for serving as a judge in a subsequent trial. Can’t unring that bell.

As to Flynn’s lawyers comments. Wouldn’t they be committing ineffective counsel to NOT point out he circumstances of the false statements? The only matter before the court is false statements. FARA and TRUMP and everything else is outside of the scope of this court.

If Flynn’s lawyers didn’t point out the peculiarities of the 302’s and McCabe, etc. Then who would?

gadfly म्हणाले...

So General Michael Flynn, our war hero, who served as a Trump campaign advisor and was Trump's choice to be National Security Advisor, flipped his loyalty from the Stars & Stripes to the Trump disease (Money, Money, Money.) For a mere $600,000, Flynn would use his new influence to convince the American public to blame a green-card carrying Turkish scholar living in the Poconos for inciting and leading a fake coup in Turkey engineered on paper by the Turkish President. Further he pledged to have the American resident sent back to Turkey under lock and key.

Yepper - Flynn was an unregistered foreign agent at the same time he was the second-most important man in Trump's cabinet.

“Arguably, that undermines everything this flag over here stands for,” Sullivan said, gesturing to an American flag displayed behind his chair. “Arguably you sold your country out.”

Sullivan continued: “I’m not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense.”

Drago म्हणाले...

Brian: "I would think the treason comment would be prejudicial for serving as a judge in a subsequent trial. Can’t unring that bell."

I think you are missing the point about what the dems/left/LLR's have built in the executive branch and judiciary to advance the LLR-approved left-wing agenda.

Birkel म्हणाले...

No, gadfly, and not even close.
The alleged FARA work was not coincidental to Flynn's time in the White House.
The Left and their GOPe fellow travelers cannot lie or mislead well.
So they make up in volume what they lack in quality.

Drago म्हणाले...

Gadfly, the Poor Man's LLR Chuck, chimes in precisely AFTER the false lefty charge of Flynn serving as an unregistered agent while serving in the White House has been debunked!!

LOL

Thanks gadfly!

Seriously, its hard to believe you are able to so effectively combine a weak intellect with such exquisitely bad timing.

Truly, its a gift.

Gee, its astonishing your sad blog never took off with such hot hotty hot hot takes.

A mystery indeed....

bagoh20 म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Brian म्हणाले...

Drago: if he was left wing he would have just sentenced him. Again this can’t be good for Mueller. It was unexpected by all accounts. It complicates things. He can’t issue a report until it’s behind him at the minimum.

narciso म्हणाले...

Yet when holder reinstated the prosecutors Sullivan had reprimanded after the schulte report, and the bureau fired whistleblower Chad joy, he was rather nonplussed about it.

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

"How do you know it was baseless? "

The judge apologized for it. But regardless, a judge has no right to call a man a traitor in court who has not been tried and convicted for the crime.

narciso म्हणाले...

Schulte did the review of the case, joy called out the chief witness's proclivities and that of his handler (ahem)

Guildofcannonballs म्हणाले...

Boys they ain't no damn succotash suffrin' up round this bitch.

You fucks oughta k3p5 his a'ss outta the funny paaapers.

Guildofcannonballs म्हणाले...

The mugwump cuck pump.

Browndog म्हणाले...

Sullivan was trying to shake Flynn out of his coma-

Essentially, calling a black person a N----, just to get him to respond.

It didn't work, so he had to apologize.

Where this goes.....we all know. I applaud the judge for at least trying. Why do I expect him to be whispered about...collusion...no reason. Comrade.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...



The sentencing of former Trump White House national security adviser Michael Flynn on a single charge of lying to the FBI turned into a dramatic scene in a Washington, D.C., courthouse Tuesday. Federal Judge Emmet Sullivan excoriated Flynn for what is called uncharged conduct — that is, for crimes that Flynn has not been formally accused of committing.

In open court, Sullivan raised the question of whether Flynn, a retired Army three-star general with more than three decades of service, might have committed treason. He questioned whether Flynn sold out the United States. He said Flynn had served as an unregistered foreign agent (for Turkey) inside the White House.

“Arguably, that undermines everything that this flag over here stands for,” Sullivan said, gesturing toward the American flag in the courtroom, according to reporters who were present. “Arguably, you sold your country out.”

All were terribly damaging accusations, especially coming from a federal judge sitting in court. And all were false, given that Flynn did not commit treason, did not sell out the United States, and did not serve as an unregistered foreign agent in the White House. There’s a reason Trump-Russia special counsel Robert Mueller did not charge Flynn with those crimes, and the reason is he did not commit them.

It appeared Sullivan had a momentary loss of reason or didn’t have his facts straight, or both. He later walked back some of his comments, but the damage was done.

-

Browndog म्हणाले...

Just so you know, Flynn is protecting his son.

His pride and joy, that Mueller threatened to imprison, with young children, without this guilty plea.

I'd do the same. So would you. Don't give me "If you didn't do anything wrong" bullshit either.

Hagar म्हणाले...

Engaging with Inga is not recommended, but really, any issues Judge Sullivan may know something about, but it was not brought up during the trial, he needs to keep to himself.
It was highly inappropriate for him to make these comments.

And to speak of treason in a U.S. court in any context other than those called out in the Constitution is a very big no-no.

CWJ म्हणाले...

"How do you know it was baseless? Do you know what Judge Sullivan knows?"

And now Inga takes her act to the next thread. It never changes.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

I'd also like to know why it's illegal to talk to the Russian ambassador?

Did anyone in the Obama-Hillary admin talk to that guy?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Mueller is a Hillary Clinton Hatchet-man.

Browndog म्हणाले...

It's time for President Trump to stop pretending Twitter makes a flying fuck and actually do something. Or not.

It seems his advisors are telling him "You can't execute Presidential powers, they'll impeach you."

They were going to impeach him the minute he was declared the winner over Hillary. The only question was if the republicans were going to to give the House to the dems, and let them do it.

The mass "retirements", including Paul Ryan gave you that answer.

narciso म्हणाले...

Thirty senators including air claire, he makes the best stroganoff noodles.

iowan2 म्हणाले...

The rot at the FBI and at Justice has leaked into the judiciary. Sullivan falsely accused Flynn of treason, for no reason, and having nothing to do with the matter in front of the judge. At the end of the day. Sullivan has threatened a man that agreed to plead guilty and pay the price. The judge, letting Mueller walk all over him. Letting Mueller skate on providing all the documents he demanded. The original 302 has not been produced. The notes from the interview not produced, and the documents that track the changes to get to the final 302, still not in the judges hand.
We are no longer a Nation of laws

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Can the American people sue judges? If Flynn could - he should sue.

n.n म्हणाले...

We are no longer a Nation of laws

We are a nation of politically congruent constructs.

Birkel म्हणाले...

DB@H,

No. The judge has immunity. The Court gave judges immunity. That is a pretty sweet deal, if you can get it.

Browndog म्हणाले...

I've seen many make a very good point-

Trump is a reaction to the left, and the establishment right. If you reject him, you won't like what comes next..

Since some of those same people read this blog/comments; I proffer-

If they are able to destroy Trump, we won't like what happens next.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Dang.

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