At some point, I started following (on Twitter) various beat-reporters whose jobs include “sitting in federal courthouses and live-tweeting the criminal proceedings of various Trump flunkies.” It’s actually quite awesome – Twitter is made for this kind of thing, especially since cameras aren’t allowed in federal court. All of this to say, Michael Flynn’s sentencing hearing did not go the way ANYONE thought it would, and the tweets were amazing as everything unfolded in real time.
The backstory is that Flynn is truly “Trump’s guy,” in that Trump has always been bizarrely attached to Flynn, even when Flynn was committing treason and lying to the FBI and the Vice President and everybody else. Trump is even loyal to Flynn when it’s clear that Flynn has spilled his (partial) guts to the Mueller investigation. Trump even has a conspiracy theory that Flynn did nothing wrong, that Flynn was “entrapped” by some “bad FBI guys” and that Flynn is merely a humble intelligence chief and career federal employee who never knew that lying to the FBI was a crime. Flynn even played into that conspiracy theory with a statement last week, saying outright that he was never told that “lying to the FBI” was a crime.
Well, the shenanigans came thick and fast once Mueller’s lawyers and Flynn and his lawyers got to court yesterday for the sentencing hearing. Flynn has already pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his phone calls to Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak. But Mueller’s investigators have Flynn on many other crimes, much like Paul Manafort – Flynn was up to his neck in illegal lobbying for foreign governments and financial shenanigans and such. Many believe that Mueller allowed Flynn to plead guilty to the “lying to the FBI” charge because they made a bigger deal for Flynn’s total cooperation, and that his cooperation includes little to no jail time. That’s what the prosecutors had told the judge: their recommendation was that Flynn serve no jail time, or a minimum amount. But it’s up the judge’s discretion, no matter what. Judge Emmet Sullivan was not here for any of Flynn’s treasonous shenanigans:
Judge Sullivan immediately took aim at the notion of entrapment during Flynn’s sentencing hearing, saying he wondered if Flynn had really accepted responsibility for his crime, according to reporters in the courthouse. Responding to questions from Sullivan, Flynn said he knew that lying to the FBI was illegal and his lawyer said he wasn’t contending that Flynn needed to be reminded of that, nor that he needed to have a lawyer present, or that Flynn “was entrapped by the FBI.” Flynn reportedly affirmed several times that he was guilty of lying to the FBI.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors have recommended that Flynn serve no jail time as a reward for cooperation with their probe into Trump campaign ties to Russia. However, Sullivan reportedly said he couldn’t promise that Flynn wouldn’t receive a jail sentence. He ordered the court to recess briefly for Flynn’s team to consider the morning’s hearing.
“I want to be frank with you, this crime is very serious,” Sullivan said, according to CNN. “Not only did you lie to the FBI, you lied to senior officials in the incoming administration.”
Flynn has also admitted lying about his private sector work for the Turkish government, and yesterday two of his former business associates were indicted for that work. Sullivan reportedly attacked Flynn for not registering as a foreign agent of Turkey while working in Trump’s administration, saying, “arguably you sold your country out.”
At one point Sullivan asked Mueller’s representative whether Flynn could have been charged with treason. The prosecutor said they hadn’t considered that charge.
Yes, Judge Sullivan said the word “treason” in open court. So much for “poor misunderstood Michael Flynn, he didn’t even know what he was saying when he chanted ‘Lock Her Up’.” Apparently, the prosecutors were not pleased with Judge Sullivan basically telling them that they were letting a traitor get off with a slap on the wrists, and Flynn’s lawyers were freaking out about Sullivan GOING IN. Sullivan offered to postpone this hearing a few times, and after a lunch break, both sides agree: Flynn won’t be sentenced until March, and during that time, Flynn must continue cooperating with Mueller’s investigation. Heh heh.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
The judge was right. It’s Rule 101 to not shift blame in a sentencing memo and that’s what Flynn’s attorneys did. There was no acceptance of responsibility there.
It is entirely implausible that the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency didn’t know lying to the FBI was a crime.
Besides, the FBI does not routinely inform people that lying to them is a felony unless the person has been arrested. It is illegal to lie to any law enforcement officer, and even children are taught that by Officer Friendly visiting their schools. Lindsay Lohan was locked up in a strict rehab for three months because she lied to police officers especially about who was driving. Somehow I doubt that Michael Flynn has no idea about the proper behavior. If a cooking show host can get six months in prison for lying about a stock tip, why not Mike Flynn? He is so lucky they aren’t prosecuting him for his secret Turkish agent activity and kidnapping plot and everything else he has been up to.
And contrary to the pro-Trump liars, they did tell him he could bring counsel in for the interview and they told him the subject of the interview and he was the one to decide where it took place and when. And they actually quoted from their transcripts to help him remember what he actually said on the phone calls when he claimed to not recall anything. That should have been a big clue that he was toast if he lied because they actually already knew what was in those phone calls.
And still he deliberately repeated the same lies he had told the public, the media, and anybody relevant in the Administration, although with the latter there may have been a wink-wink involved since they didn’t care at all about the warnings they were getting about him from the DoJ. Trump did not want to fire him. I doubt that Trump didn’t already know about it all and approve the activity. His son-in-law was also running around trying to set up a secret back channel to Moscow through the Russian Embassy.
Yes!! The Judge was right!!
Thank God for Judge Sullivan’s common sense!
I was shocked to hear on MSNBC last night that the prevailing opinion on this was that he was “intemperant”
Sometimes Judicial tempers flare when they are pushed too far.
Judge Emmett Sullivan always delivers. Regarding Flynn, it was treason and he should be locked up.
Agreed. He needs to go straight to Effing jail. This man is a 3 star general. He sold out his country to line his pockets.
I know this story should give me hope that they are coming for Trump, but it just makes me so depressed… and stressed. I’m sure this is just the tip of the iceberg. Our current administration is disgusting. Will we ever be able to undo the damage they are doing?
You will be. I firmly believe in this, and I have no personal motivation to do so as I am neither american nor living in america. Nobody is taking this troll seriously on this side of the pond. The political damage that he has done will be fixed quickly. And I think the damage that he has done internally will be healed aswell. Don’t give up hope.
These crooked people speak so much from both sides of their mouth that no rational person could allow this to be looked at as innocent. The disgrace is the level these idiots take to cover their own azs; it’s like a naked person wearing a hospital gown….tie the back all you want, your brains are showing.
One example is that I personally think the Conway grifters are in on this together in a bad cop/good cop way.
She will defend Trump, by all established means do her job, collect the paycheck and look like the patient wife but not disloyal servant to the orange thing.
George, on the other hand, will publicly “out’ his wife for believing in this lunatic, seem like a hero and get a pat on the back once rhis current administration goes down.
They have covered both ends. The one that will end up on the losing side will stand down and speak of how much courage her or his spouse had by “seeing” the truth before they did. There will be tears and forgiveness and renewed marriage vows.
Scam artists.
This is the peoblem with ALL of it; it’s a race to whom will get to the finish line first and how much they’ll pretend NOT to know.
I wouldn’t waste spit on any of these soul swallowing selfish cretins.
May all culpable beings get exactly what they deserve.
My honest to God recommendation is a cage where they will be forced to shyte and piss all over themselves. Just the mind of menu they’ve been feeding everyone else, no more and no less.
May no one get away with a fukking thing.
I love that Sullivan went there and mentioned “treason” and called out Flynn’s laughable narrative about not knowing that lying to the FBI was a crime. IMO everyone who had any contact with Russians to influence the election is treasonous and needs to be dealt with by someone like Judge Sullivan. Lock them all up including the Orange Turd and his spawn!
Unfortunately, after the recess Sullivan walked that all the way back and apologized for incorrectly stating that Flynn worked as a foreign agent while serving as NSA.
As someone who had a top secret security clearance for most of his career, Flynn had many interactions with the FBI over the past four decades and knew damn well lying to them was a crime.
I was surprised given the gravity of Flynn’s actions that Mueller was recommending no jail time. My assumption was he must be crucial to bringing down Trump. I’m glad that Flynn got the verbal dressing down he’s so richly deserved.
I think the judge might be rightfully concerned that Flynn will stop cooperating and try to reverse it all, as we have seen Papadopolous doing. These people do not consider a promise anything but optional. Flynn could be grateful to the FBI, he has been involved with so much criminal activity that affects national security. He could be locked up a long time if they pursued those other charges, and so could his son. He bought safety for his son by cooperating and needs to be reminded of that.
Theory is that Trump is so much nicer to Flynn than Cohen because Flynn knows so much more damaging evidence than Cohen has. Let’s hope Trump doesn’t pardon Flynn.
I wonder if Flynn can be pardoned if he hasn’t been sentenced yet? But good for Sullivan for postponing his sentence and making him available for future questioning.
#FollowTheMoney
#Treason
The threat of actual jail time seems to have jarred Flynn’s memory and suddenly he has more cooperating to do.
I’m sorry, but that theory is mostly hype and sensationalism. There’s a chance Flynn knows something truly damning, but there are plenty of known explanations for the discrepancy between how he treats each man.
Part of it is the shear amount of professional and personal information Cohen knows and told the FBI. It’s embarrassing and dangerous and it pi$$ed Trump off. So far we don’t really know if Flynn said anything that will actually cause fallout for Trump himself. What we’re already seeing out of Cohen definitely involves Trump.
The difference in Trump’s opinion of each man also plays a huge role. Cohen was never more a thuggish errand boy. He was useful and loyal, but Trump NEVER respected him. He humiliated the man at his son’s Bar Mitzvah! Flynn, on the other hand, is exactly the type of tough military man Trump creams himself over. By all accounts they were actually friends. It’s seriously pathetic, but they even bonded over the giant chip on each’s shoulder about President Obama.
Then there are the excuses I’ve heard for why each man flipped. Yes, Cohen did it to protect himself and his family, but he was the only one actually facing prison time. While Flynn did it for ostensibly the same reason, friendlier reporting (read: FOX News and it’s ilk) claim he only flipped once his son was definitely facing prison time too.
Trump has always liked and respected Flynn and Flynn hasn’t done anything to really change that, that we know of at least. Not only did Trump never respect Cohen, everything that happened after his arrest destroyed whatever bond they actually shared. I think that’s a far more realistic explanation for why he’s nicer to Flynn.
Wait, what was that chant again? LOCK HIM UP.
I get Mueller’s playing for the long game, but I will forever be bitter that none of these traitors will see jail time. At the very least, this assh*le should have all of his military honors and benefits stripped and he should be dishonorably discharged after the fact (I don’t know if that is a thing, but it should be in this case).
I’d like to be shocked that a man who was an Lieutenant General in the Army actually thinks it was okay to lie to the FBI, but this is the world we live in now.
You are so right! This treasonous traitor has absolutely earned a dishonorable discharge as well as years of hard prison time.
This really irks me as my grandfather and great uncle spent their lives as Lt Col and Lt. General. Very proud of them!
Flynn is a coward!
This judge just trapped Trump by making Flynn admit in court several times that he understood and wasn’t coaxed into anything.
Get the lawyer and you get the criminal and that is why Cohen is the biggest fish for Mueller.
Cohen has video evidence and probably going to take down several Republicans senators down with him.
We haven’t heard much about the Cohen videos, but I can’t wait to hear/see more.
According to Suckabee, Flynn was completely ambushed in court, so she’s as dumb as Trump when it comes to obvious facts. Individual 1 is pretty strongly attatched to Flynn who attmitted he was guilty of lying to the FBI, so Flynn must have some juicy secrets. Funny that Flynn started the ‘Lock her up! ” chant. Lock HIM up! Lock them ALL up!!!
I don’t think Huckabee is dumb—she’s sold her soul to the devil. She knows how inane her blathering is outside the Trump bubble. But she doesn’t care. She’s on the Trump train wreck until the bitter end. And, not to excuse her acts, but it’s how she was raised. She’s the perfect automaton mouthpiece for this administration, because she can say all this BS without caring if it’s true or not. I think in her head, she’s perfected a method of using religious-flavored rationalizations to justify standing up there every day and repeating Trump’s lies with such fervor.
SuchaB(*tch) was also ranting about FISA abuses and Dem corruption on her official twitter. Breech of government rules, no?
Gah, these people all belong in hell.
Yesterday morning I said to my husband, I don’t care how much Flynn helped with the investigations, IMO he should get some prison time. I’m happy the judge raised hell about what’s going on. Don the Con was saying yesterday that Flynn did not do anything wrong that’s why he was not getting any jail time. Now The judge called his bluff and said Flynn is a disgrace to his country. I hope he gets some jail time. I also understand the gov needs his help but it should not go without some time in jail for selling his country out, jmo.
I totally agree. What sort of disincentive is it not to exhibit treasonous behaviour if they won’t do any time for it? Flynn should also lose any benefit of his position including losing his pension benefits and his title IMO.
Again, people, these are rich, privileged white men. Expect to see little to no jail time, permission to keep most or all of their ill-gotten gains and the ONLY punishment being fired or removed from their former positions. Like Les Moonves. Like Harvey Weinstein. Like Matt Lauer. Kavanagh even got promoted to the Supreme Court despite his violent crime against a woman. The system was MADE for people like these.
💥boom
Treason’s Greetings! How you like them apples, Emperor Zero? Republican-appointed judge (Reagan) decides to drop the T-word on your shitshow. I wonder how Junior is feeling right about now knowing that Flynn’s discussions with Kislyak about dropping sanctions caused the judge to declare that Flynn “had turned his back on the United States” and everyone knows that the Trump Tower Treason meeting was a discussion about
Dropping sanctions
Btw, EZ, how do you like that female NYAG Underwood is giving the Trump Foundation the ol colonoscopy? The FEC and the IRS are also involved and the AG’s case continues even after she distributes the remaining cash from your fraudulent “charity” to appropriate charities.
Accuse others of which you are guilty, amirite?
💥💥💥🔪💥💥💥
Eric be spittin’ that truth!
Yeah, when they play video of the things he said about the clinton foundation, it’s a complete confession. It’s stunning really.
And the incing on the cake, when Underwood’s appointment is up, she is going to stay on to assist AG elect Letitia James with this case and anything else AG James wants to investigate.
Teamwork makes the dream work.
Good. This case has had enough of rich white men getting away with treason with no more than a slap on the wrist.
When Judge Sullivan kept repeating if I say anything that references the information that was redacted from the public object or just raise your hand to inform him, my mouth just opened.
Just what the hell was Chanter up to? When a federal judge is taken that a back by what he read….yeah, it’s treason.
That was my thought. There has to be more than what’s available publicly for Sullivan to have been so strident.
LOCK HIM UP
I feel like Judge Sullivan (also my last name) was saying exactly what I was thinking and calling BS on Flynn. I hope he does get jail time and I hope Mueller and his team consider Treason charges against Trump, his deplorable family, and other deplorable actors in his circle.
He knew lying to the FBI was a federal crime. Their argument was more for the judge. I think he’s pretty by the book, and has been known to admonish prosecutors for those kinds of mistakes ( in this instance, the FBI not cautioning someone they are interviewing/investigating). They thought he’d go after the prosecutors and give them what they wanted and not dig too deep at their client. WRONG. And right after a Fox News commentator said he was a stand up judge with so much credibility and honor, he’ll throw out his case because he’s not afraid of the swamp Hahaha – an anchor on MSNBC said she’d give $500 to have Fox News replay that segment!
Did y’all see that Mueller won that mystery subpoena case, too? He’s bringing the noise the last week or two!
I’m still mad that these rich white men are getting less punishment than they deserve, but I’m grudgingly going to accept it if we see Drumpf family members go down.
I saw that. Yesterday I thought it could be Cambridge Analytica, but I’ve since read that the company is owned by another country. That makes me think possibly a bank or hacker farm of some type. Very intriguing!
@Tiffany wasn’t there shady Panama doings? Maybe it’s that?
On a morning news show, a former fed prosecutor who attended the hearing yesterday was asked about the mood in the courtroom before, during and after the judge’s comments. The former prosecutor (who had appeared in front of the judge before) said that it was like a “cocktail party” among Flynn and his team. That carefree mood turned completely somber once it became clear the judge was not as flippant about the charges.
I am glad a reality check was given to anyone past or present who turned against their country’s best interests for monetary gain.
Those upset that Flynn is possibly getting no prison time: Remember, that just means no guards protecting him. He’s gonna be looking over his shoulder and worrying about the taste of his food for the rest of his life. Russians don’t play around with cooperating witnesses that expose them. He’s gonna be lucky not to get a polonium sandwich by this time next year. No prison time doesn’t equal not paying for your sins.
Thank you Repunzel! So true! Putin will be able to reach out and give him a little tap on Flynn’s shoulder anytime he wants to!
I hope that thought gives Trump the chills.