There are two kinds of generals- those that use their influence in their retirement to make millions working for foreign governments (and possibly selling national security secrets in the process) and those generals who are true patriots. Flynn and Trump's generals are the former while George Marshall and his ilk are the later (patriots and leaders). Read "The Generals" by Thomas E Ricks.
2
Rachel Maddow pointed out last night that it took Flynn just 11 days to change his position on the Turkish coup attempt from praising it to defending Erdogan, and showed how this could be explained by only one thing -- money. Drain the swamp!
4
When we start seeing indictments of Liberals as well as Conservatives I'll start believing in the impartiality of the justice system. Until then not so much.
Just a reminder, when a liberal occupied the White House for twelve years, he established incredibly strong restrictions on hiring lobbyists for federal appointments. I remember a lot of Hill folks and K Street lobbyists grumbling about it.
You have not seen any scandals of note for a reason. The Commander-in-Chief who preceded Mr. Trump made sure his administration was squeaky clean. And he conducted himself with modesty and probity.
3
You write: "The indictment is further evidence of a broad crackdown on unregistered foreign lobbying ..." Deepening? A bit. Broad? Not.
So then John Kerry should be receiving a subpoena soon for his Iranian collusion right? Oh that’s right it’s ok if the person is on the right political team.
He should do time in jail like any other law breaker! The American public EXPECTS our corrupt legislators etc NOT to do time thus fostering the culture of distrust in our government & our legal system. Otherwise, watch him resume the his foreign illegal work w/in year's end. Do confiscate his illegally gotten $500K also.
1
How can these guys get 15 years and Flynn walks? Unbelievable. Treason is ok these days.
2
It is uncanny how swampmeister Trump's racketeering and swindling mind picks a mob of criminals to govern our country.
As a Hillary Clinton supporter, I have only one thing to say to Mr. Flynn "Loick him up. Lock him up." Perhaps he will have no jail time, but I will never for give him for leading that chant in the Republican convention. What goes around comes around.
4
It bothers me that Flynn is collecting a nice taxpayer funded government pension when he has betrayed our nation in so many ways.
11
Unfortunately the Senate would never agree to it, but I think all lobbying should be made illegal, punishable by both heavy fines and lengthy prison sentences. That is one way to start cleaning up our political system.
The corollary is that any politician (and their spouses) MUST make ALL their financial transactions public. That is the only way we can know if they are being influenced.
12
What I want to know is why back ground checks for Gen Flynn did not uncover that his firm was doing work as unregistered foreign lobbyists, why avoid registering as so many do in DC? This lucrative, unregistered influence (lobbyist) is pervasive throughout the years and in fact most DC insiders know who operates in this playground and tolerate it until they can't?
I propose a 10 year ban on all federal employees and elected officials upon retirement from working as registered or unregistered foreign lobbyist. Send a big shout out to those looking to do otherwise will lose not only their federal benefits but enjoy years of free housing in a federal penitentiary.
6
No one should be lobbying for foreign governments. It should be strictly prohibited with a heafty fines and prison sentences. Lobbying generally is an appalling intrusion in our democracy. Lobbyists now have significantly more power than voters, even if they are organized. Voters vote and lobbyist overturn their decsions by drafting legislation in their clients interests and paying feckless legislators to pass it!
4
Just so you know, many people who represent good causes are registered lobbyists. They lobby for gun control, environmental groups, and social justice. The Sisters of Mercy and Network, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving come to mind.
Badmouthing everyone who tries to advance a cause on Capitol Hill is not a good thing.
1
Lock 'em all up!
2
Was Benedict Arnold merely an unregistered lobbyist for the British? When does lobbying turn into treason? This is from Title 18 USC section 2381:“Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States...” Mueller must be getting something huge from Flynn in return for an extraordinarily light sentence.
3
See today's Rachel Maddow show segment on this criminal scheme by Mr Flynn and his associates. I hope Mr Mueller rescinds his request for leniency for Mr Flynn, who sold US government policies for $530, 000 from Turkey. Isn't Mr Erdogan also the guy whose security guards attacked and beat up protesters when he was visiting the US?
10
And you seriously believe Ms. Maddow?
1
If you are a witch you don't need to worry at the moment. The Mueller investigation is starting to resemble a "warlock hunt". Mr. Trump only selects warlocks to serve on his staff who will go to jail for him eventually: Manafort, Cohen, Gates, Papadopoulos, and Flynn. Kushner and Donald Jr. probably are getting a little nervous as well.
6
At some point the US Supreme Court is going to make the knuckleheaded decision that lobbying, even for a hostile foreign government, is "free speech", and that it is an abridgement of free speech to require a lobbyist to register.
Having already decided that mega-billboards are free speech that cannot be regulated, and that unlimited dark money corporate political contributions are "free speech" which cannot be limited, it remains next to say that Erdogan and Putin, through the activities of their highly paid US lackeys, possess unlimited free speech rights as well.
The Supreme Court has thus far shown no interest in narrowing the nefarious Citizens United case.
At some point free speech needs to face the reasonable restraint of not including secret, treasonous political expenditures by hostile tinpot dictators, through corporate business fronts, who would seek to pervert the American political system.
I'm looking forward with dismay, however, to the various creative and subversive uses that lobbyists of every stripe may apply to the Citizens United case, which was an idiotic decision to begin with. Corporations may be "persons" for purposes of investment and liability, but they are not (yet) "persons" who may vote at the ballot box or hold public office (even if they have, with Supreme Court complicity, now been allowed to buy off numerous officeholders).
Flynn and his fellow travelers were only doing what Citizens United blessed.
10
I hope ALL the illegal campaign contributions (regardless of party) is confiscated by the FBI. Our state and local governments have used the RICO Act to confiscate private property from non Organize Crime individual American citizens. With that said it will clearly be within the boundaries of the RICO Act to confiscate all illegal contributions made to our elected and wanna-bees officials. The funds should be used by the FBI to help clean up America’s election and campaign process.
44
Flynn must of given a lot of incriminating evidence to the Mueller investigation to not get a sentence of 15 or more years for his perjury and not registering as a Lobbyist and hiding money.
I have to smile at the Defense Attorneys asking the Judge to believe that Flynn was trapped into lying by the Investigators.
It sounds as if has been lying all of his life.
It will be a great miscarriage of Justice if Flynn gets off with just a slap on the wrist. He lied and lied again. He should be going to prison. Unless of course he had the goods on Russia and Trump
40
Please do read other sources, and not only the very biased NYT columnists.
https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/the-questionable-case-against-gen-flynn-11545066054
1
@Ken M
I didn't realize reporting facts, along with rational analysis, constitutes bias.
2
When Michael Flynn took his military oath, he solemnly to swore to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic..." Evidently, the oath he took after retiring from the military was to solicit the highest bidder for his personal gain, including foreign enemies of the United States.
I'm glad the Mueller investigation found Mr. Flynn's testimony useful. But, if possible, the Army would do well to retroactively dishonorably discharge this corrupt and dishonorable man.
85
@jrinsc
Flynn did lobbying work that benefitted Turkey, one of America's NATYO allies.There is nothing traitorous, illegal or improper about during lobby work for foreign nations. Neither is it a violation of the oath Flynn took as a U.S. soldier. Flynn is nerves to regarded as an American hero for his distinguished military service.
Flynn's consulting firm did lobbying work paid for by a Dutch businessman who was a Turkish expatriate. The Justice Federal Agent Registration Unit determine Flynn should have registered as a foreign agent because the work ultimately benefitted Russia. Normally, the FARA Unit sends letters to Americans it thinks should register as foreigns notifying them that they must registry. It normally prosecuted only those who don't reposed to the notifications. Flynn registered retroactively and wasn't prosecuted.
6
@William Case
You need to do a LOT more reading research about what Flynn had agreed to do for the Turks.
This is not just about not registering as a foreign agent. Read the op-ed Flynn had published on or around Election day. Read about the kidnapping scheme.
37
@William Case
Michael Flynn had conversations with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, while he was a private citizen, and then lied about it to the FBI. That's what got him involved in Mueller's inquiry, and few would argue that Russia is not America's enemy. Flynn was also paid $45,000 to speak at RT's ("Russia Today's") conference in Moscow in 2015, making remarks critical of Obama and sitting next to Putin at the event. Moreover, while Turkey is nominally a U.S. ally, Erdogan is an authoritarian dictator in everything but name. All of these actions dishonor the spirit if not the letter of Flynn's military oath, and are certainly not the actions of "an American hero," as you characterize him.
55
For those of us who read and digest the news, it is difficult to understand why Flynn appears to have a "don't go to jail card," in spite of the harm he has done to U.S. interests. In my judgment, he has disgraced the uniform he wore while in the military. Three stars? For what?
60
Flynn and his Son should both be facing the same 15 to 35 year charges. Flynn better have given up Trump himself for Treason or Bribery or he and his son should have gone to prison for a very long time; or, are these light sentences for the plea deals Mueller is handing out simply another example of Washington's good ole boys club looking out for each other once again?
24
Wait. Flynn, while he was advising Trump on national security matters, is working for the Erdogan regime and their attempt to get rid of Gulen a green card permanent resident of the US by kidnapping Gulen and sending him back to a Turkish prison to be turned into canned dog food? Really? That's what the Mueller indictment says.
And Flynn is getting off without something like a firing squad, or whatever spies get these days? I don't get it. Will someone out there reply to me and explain how Flynn is slipping away to go live on his generous Army pension, future lucrative book deals, consultancies and book deals?
My drill sergeant was wrong. I guess treason pays.
7
In fairness, Judge Sullivan was wrong in that assertion. General Flynn was not working for Turkey at the time. Judge Sullivan apologized for the error. Please read the article in full.
Most of my federal criminal clients were too lazy to attend Harvard or Yale, too stupid to elect not to be born into low-income neighborhoods, and lacked the foresight to choose parents who would provide them with trust funds. So when they faced 15 years in prison, their chances of being released pre-trial on reasonable bail were low, or, expressed another way – non-existent – even though they were United States citizens. Perhaps it was my fault in not preparing them properly for the arraignments – I should have had them wear blue suits, as Mr. Kian did. That seemed to work.
3
This story is actually much bigger than it appears on the surface. Also see Rachael Maddow's report today on MSN.
It will be increasingly important for the American people to understand how Flynn dodged indictment for his clear cupability in this scheme.
4
The behavior of Flynn lately is just to plant seeds that can grow to provide a false basis for Trump to pardon him.
1
And so if successful, this plan would have extradited an Erdogan enemy to his certain death - correct? Like shades of Khasoggi?
12
On Election Day - never having a doubt that Hillary Clinton would beat a dim-wit, racist, paranoid, nouveaux-riche vulgarian - I browsed the news and couldn't believe my eyes reading Flynn's op-ed in The Hill.
He argued that the US should indeed arrest and extradite Gulen - which would most certainly have ended with him being sentenced to death - but would then be followed by a never ending love-fest with Erdogan.
I thought that Flynn had lost his mind, but that obviously afflicts everyone having played a role in the Theatre of the Absurd, aka Trump campaign and presidency.
The self-declared very stable genius had indeed fulfilled one of his campaign promises of only hiring the very best, hiring the very best crooks ever in the history of the US of A.
17
After getting a full dose of the utter lack of integrity and character of the bigot Kelly, now comes the scope of criminality of the reprobate Flynn. Is there a toxic Peter Principle that has infiltrated the upper echelons of our military? How many more of these "leaders" are there in the officer corps?
19
The behavior and actions of those indicted and guilty in the investigation are disgusting, maddening and unforgivable.
Take Flynn alone: this man was a career military officer who achieved a rank of general!
What kind of American is he? What does this say about our military and the "respect for service" we are taught? Is he an exception rather than rule? How can we ever trust what we're taught to think about military? His behavior and actions are indefensible. The institution is disgraced. He should be punished with prison time. Period.
I manage my expectations as well as I can, but trust takes a long, long time to rebuild.
Lock HIM up.
20
Flynn was not simply a general, who are a dime a dozen. He was a three-star general (Lt. Gen.), which is an extraordinarily high rank.
1
If Mueller recommended leniency for Flynn despite the apparent magnitude of Flynn's crimes, the information Flynn gave in return must have been of an even greater magnitude. It makes his mewling about being misled by the FBI look a lot like a belated attempt to minimize the extent of his cooperation. So much for the great American hero. He's just another of trump's slimy, money-grubbing swamp-creature cronies.
22
The only honorable person in Trump's cabinet is Jim Mattis. And I'm sure he's still serving just to protect us from Trump. Trump is a career crook. Crooks surround themselves with people like them.
14
@DC METRO, Sorry but I can't buy the suggestion that Jim Mattis is all that honorable. Look at his response to the Khashoggi murder by MBS.
In my view, Mr. Mattis would better serve our country by resigning and then speaking out on the danger Trump poses to our democracy. His voice would carry a lot of weight.
Yes, the depth of the corruption surrounding Trump is astounding.
When, I implore, please tell me when will the 40 percent wake up to the madness?
2
So, Turkey got mad at Arabia for kidnapping and killing someone, after they tried to do the same thing. Right?
20
If the Flynn standard were applied to all of DC it would be a ghost town.
3
Then let's do that.
I hope your comment is not trying to rationalize their behavior
8
So now we know that not only was Flynn working with Putin to get sanctions lifted, but he was also working with Erdogan so Turkey can extradite a political foe. That is 2 dictators. And Flynn was the Trump National Security Advisor.
If Mueller recommends NO JAIL time, that indicates that Flynn spilled the beans all the way to the top. Trump, Pence and the entire transition team must have known about Flynn even BEFORE the election.
In the Flynn plea agreement,
Dec. 28, 2016: Obama signs an executive order announcing sanctions against Russia for interfering in the 2016 election.
Dec . 28th 2016 Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak contacts Flynn
Dec. 29, 2016: Flynn calls “a senior official of the Presidential Transition Team," according to the plea agreement, at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. for guidance on talking to Kislyak.
Dec 29th 2016: Other senior members of the transition were also at the resort. Flynn then calls Kislyak and asks him not to “escalate the situation," and reports the conversation back to a transition official.
30
The Trump, Inc. criminal enterprise, a bottom-less pit.
24
One line in the story is key, Mueller referred the Flynn case to a prosecutor in northern Virginia. Is the purpose of a special prosecutor is to find and prosecute crimes which could be handled by a local DA? Seems to me Mueller has yet to find a crime that rises to the level of an omnipotent special prosecutor.
I am happy that Manafort is going to jail for tax evasion. He made millions working for the Quisling Russian government in Ukraine which was looting the country and denying the people their rights. I can't afford season tickets to the Yankees, maybe because I won't sell my soul and I pay my taxes so I'm glad he's in jail. But couldn't the NY DA have taken care of it?
The Turkish government has jailed more journalists than any country on earth. It makes me sick that a hero like Flynn sold his soul for $500,000 from a tyrant like Erdogan, but I thought we were investigating collusion?
The Cohen accusations have been referred to the Southern district of New York. They are exactly the same charges for which John Edwards was acquitted. So, it's not a crime to use campaign money or your own personal money to pay someone while you're running for president. Campaign finance law violation? That's what you got?
Year+, millions spent, and Mueller's got nothing. All we've seen is stuff that could've been handled by a DA.
If there's evidence of collusion let's see it! The longer this goes on the more it seems like an effort to overturn a democratic election.
2
@jkemp
A democratic election???? Trump won three states with 78,000 votes. Would he have won them without Russia, without the payoffs and without gerrymandering and voter suppression?
And Clearwater took four years, Irangate four years, Watergate two years. An investigation like this takes time.
25
@jkemp
Lets be fair. Republicans Bob Fiske and then Ken Starr investigated Bill Clinton for 6 years at a cost of $70 million about the whitewater land development and had to report they found nothing illegal. The Mueller investigation is only 1 year and 7 months old (started on May 17, 2017). Unlike Starr, Bob Mueller properly has not leaked anything about developments during the investigation so the public will not know the extent of what Mueller found until he files his report and if the Attorney General decides to release it.
As far as Cohen, Flynn, Manaforte and Papadopolos are concerned Mueller has acted properly processing criminal charges and obtaining cooperation on a timely basis rather than tie their lives up until Mueller completes his investigation.
7
@P Lock
Let's be honest. I agree with you the Starr investigation was a witch hunt but Starr did prove Clinton did something illegal: perjury. The Senate voted it did not rise to the level of "high crimes and misdemeanors".
They're all witch hunts. They destroy a lot of people on "process crimes", in other words someone testifies until they can prove perjury then they flip them. It is interminable.
Let's see some evidence of collusion or shut it down.
I like NRA & Mitch to be indicted to conspire against USA.
23
We thought Flynn was sooo admirable, having cooperated with the Mueller investigation. He immediately turns around and makes false accusations concerning his testimony, and now we know he was up to his ears in corruption. Nothing involving Trump is on the up-and-up. He runs a criminal mob full of grifters and crooks.
110
Criminal conspiracies, influence peddling, perjury... These words are now becoming daily descriptor of low-lifes connected to Trump and Flynn...
The same Flynn who whined and complained that the investigators had "tricked" him into perjury!
As more and more of Flynn's international criminality becomes knows, how about "rewarding" his latest lies with further indictments and some meaningful jail time? Along with forfeiture of all his cushy general's pension and lifelong perks! It's an affront to men and women in the military for someone like Flynn to be getting richer from criminal acts, and clear betrayal of his nation.
23
Hey Right Wingers - maybe Flynn agreed to plead guilty to lying to avoid the same fate as his business partners???
I wonder why they all seem to think his plea deal is entrapment, rather than a gift...?
9
Another swamp creature caught in the trap.
22
I thought that Flynn's service would be enough to get him a get out of jail free card. Now, I regret thinking that. The guys a louse. His kin as well. Lock them up!
26
@sunrise I still remember him leading the crowd in "Lock her up" chants at Trump rallies. What a hypocrite. What a crook. What a disgusting human being. I guess he got tired of being a hero and decided that crime paid a lot more.
23
@William O. Beeman - I do hope Hillary is enjoying Flynn's downfall.
10
Trump was recently looking for a way to send the cleric Turkey wanted back to Turkey.Pence was involved in the Turkey; Flynn Bermuda Triangle of espionage. Dems; investigate this in January. Ray Sipe
23
So the Turkish President’s entourage beat up peaceful protestors on American soil, they “purge” and imprison many thousands of their own citizens after the failed Erdogan coup then try to pin Gulen as the mastermind, demanding his extradition. Our Justice Dept. rightly refuses to comply. M. Flynn gets a big ‘ole secret payday for attempting to force Gulen out. Can President Trump please explain how he was tricked into this behavior? Flynn’s such a good and honest servant to our country. Yeah, right.
32
So so many witches.
27
Each and every day that I open the news, the stench is worse than the day before.
Break out the Lysol and the Chlorox.
23
I hope this means there will be a crackdown on Israeli lobbying?
20
Let’s drain it all...
Indict Bill and Hillary too and get it all done at once.
1
Don't newspapers like The Hill check the veracity of op Eds before publishing them?
3
Throw away the keys.
8
Trump has his filthy hands in this mess too. Dems investigate in January. State charges; no pardons. Ray Sipe
12
Interestingly, the only campaign contribution reported by Flynn Intel Group was to Ryan Zinke. This contribution was declared on FARA form but not by Zinke.
14
I can't believe how big Don's swamp is. Can't believe with this many slippery, slimy creatures cohabiting, they didn't start turning on and eating each other. Oh...wait...
20
Creatures of the Black Lagoon, they are.
(how did the lagoon get black, ask Scott Pruitt)
10
Yet another person in trump's orbit that is a criminal.
Only the "best guys" right, Donald?
21
More evidence that America's foreign policy is for sale in this mercantile minded Trump administration , got money Trump will deal just stuff into the pockets of the TRump Organization now running the White House. The Romanovs has a bad ending so will the Trump pack of grifters.
9
Of course this will be used to negate the stuff against the Saudi Prince!
3
Leniency for Flynn? Lock him up! Now!
16
I don't care how much Flynn told the special prosecutor; he is a creep, a crook, a sleaze, and a disgrace, and he should spend at minimum of a few years rotting in the same place he so blatantly wished Ms. Clinton to be.
29
"...When he pleaded guilty last December to lying to F.B.I agents ....... Mr. Flynn also admitted to prosecutors that he had repeatedly violated laws ..... work on behalf of foreign clients." my God! If Hillary Clinton had lied even once to the FBI Flynn himself would have locked her up!
15
And Mike Pence was WARNED in mid-november 2016 about Flynn's DIRTY lobbying connections with Turkey. Rep. Elijah Cummings sent this letter to Pence's team, which Pence's campaign acknowledged it received and promised to look into. They did NOTHING! And Pence later LIED and said they never received this letter. So, PENCE is complicit in this coverup as well. https://democrats-oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/cummings-requests-documents-relating-to-michael-flynn-s-apparent-conflicts-of?fbclid=IwAR18G8B92CkYsU0oALuKgp33JlsiM7zxqrnrSrx21xJXWb6VmQgAulKp8Qk
27
@Debussy Mr. Pence's day is coming.
1
Hillary's campaign manager John Podesta and his brother, and John Kerry will be indicted anytime now for doing the same, but we all know Mueller looks the other way for democrats.
@Rick - How interesting since Mueller is a Republican.
Please provide the links to factual information about Kerry doing the same thing.
25
The "Witch Hunt" appears to be picking up steam with many more witches going down.
7
Mr. Flynn figured out that being a puppet is the highest-paying occupation in Washington, DC. The only difference between him and thousands of others is that as a novice, he was sloppy. Trainee puppets will study his mistakes and learn from them.
4
Let's not build the wall, and put the money into a new, very large federal prison to house trump, his family and associates, and now, his associates' associates.
5
Practically none of the dregs surrounding the Trump campaign thought he was going to win. They were some mix of opportunists looking to make an unscrupulous buck or guided missiles funded from outside.
The famously tight-fisted Trump wasn't paying these folks, meaning they didn't need his money or had their own self centered agendas. Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon were paid by the Mercer's. Most of the rest had their palms out for whoever wanted to drop a few influential shekels or rubles or riyals or lira.
Michael Flynn was emblematic of the latter. And the central focus on money is why Mueller stands to roll up all the people who engaged in illegality. It's very hard to hide the transfers of large USABLE sums of money. Once they lie about their finances, Mueller has them for felonies.
The lodestar for these money grubbers was the money grubber in chief, Donald J Trump. That's why his past and present financial dealings will reveal if he's the honest businessman his most gullible supporters claim, or the most corrupt man to ever reach the presidency. My money is on the Mueller investigation and the new Democratic House to get to the bottom of this, if there is a bottom.
22
On Friday, Dec. 14th, 2018 the Wall Street Journal ran an editorial board piece on Poor Michael Flynn. It was all about how the FBI set up poor, poor Michael Flynn and made Flynn lie to them. The WSJ essentially said that the FBI made Flynn lie and opened Pandora's box for him. No mention was made that Flynn also lied to numerous WH officials, or that before his FBI questioning that Flynn had cockily told FBI's Andrew McCabe that he probably knew what Flynn had said to the Russian ambassador. The WSJ - which I would now rank with the GOP for its Trumpian excuses - just went straight after the FBI. NOTHING is Michael Flynn's fault. His Trukish connections have also been known for some time, but that is too petty for the WSJ to bother mentioning.
He's a total and complete victim of circumstances.
How do you like him now, WSJ and GOP and FOX and Breitbart? Poor Michael Flynn. The FBI made him do it.
And they made his son do it, too.
Lt. General Michael Flynn - the great victim. The martyr.
18
If Richard Nixon's government had had as many crooks, frauds, and liars in it as Donald Trump's, I somehow doubt if the American public or the Congress would have stood for Gerald Ford's pardon. Every day a new felon within 2 degrees of separation from the President of the United States, and sometimes multiple felons within 1 degree in a single week.
The election was fraudulent, the administration is crooked, and the man is an overgrown baby. Meanwhile, America and the world face some of the most daunting challenges ever.
What could possibly go wrong?
11
There is a wonderful poster from the Watergate era titled Apprehended, showing 48 photos centering on Nixon with the inscription un indicted co-conspirator. 69 were indicted and 48 convicted. Trump may not come up with such an impressive body count, or he may, but the breadth and depth of their crimes will be staggering.
7
Trump is right in that we are draining the swamp. Just not the way he intended it to be. And, thankfully he may also be swept by the flushing out of the swamp rats.
4
I wonder if these indictments were unsealed today because the Turkish government announced yesterday that the US government was "working on" Gullen's extradition. If so, if Trump extradites Gullen now, it will look very bad.
17
In "Pretty Woman," the savvy prostitute played by Julia Roberts describes herself as a bum magnet. The same could be said of Trump. It seems like every political bum in country was eager to jump on his bandwagon.
5
For those who need a political scorecard. here are the lineups according to Donald Trump.
Liars, Rats and Criminals:
Any associate of Trump's who has cooperated with law enforcement -- especially those who have testified against him
Heroic Victims of Oppression:
Any of Trump's associates who has been indicted by law enforcement but has yet not cooperated
Enemies-of-the-People Fake News Media:
Any news organization except for Fox News, Breitbart and, at one time, The National Enquirer
The Russian Hoax Witch Hunt:
92 criminal charges, 36 indictments or guilty pleas, and 4 prison sentences
9
remember this?
(from The Week, 3-20-2017)
"Robert Kelner, a lawyer for retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, said on Thursday night that his client "certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should the circumstances permit."
Thank goodness we still have a piece of the Executive Branch which is still functioning so that we may actually hear that story.
2
In our daily, dynamic, multidimensional,real world, of ranges and continua, and much that we do not know, and are not informed about, even as Mr. Mueller’s prosecutors "issued a sentencing memorandum saying that Mr. Flynn had provided 'substantial help' " this flawed human being "hustled!" Notwithstanding all of various good deeds in his various roles throughout his life. Should he be rewarded for doing what is expected of "social beings," in daily menschlich interactions; the basis of a society underpinned by equitable wellbeing for ALL?
2
Ah, the gilded house that Trump built: where all the gilt turns to guilt...
5
Their defense may well link the US to the Turkish coup. If that develops, expect this case to be dropped for "national security" reasons aka cover up for the CIA's misdeeds.
7
@Mark Thomason On the other hand, if so, it was under Obama's watch, and Trump wants to undo everything Obama did, Given the Turkish government's assertion yesterday that the US government is working on Gullen's extradition, the unsealing of these indictments today may be a warning to Trump n ot to do it.
@Mark Thomason
Mark....enough.
You reach beyond the pale with your "linking the US to a Turkish coup" innuendo.
Provide exact proof, sir.
Not fox "news" spin, not right wing organizational spin, not "gee, I heard from a guy who knows a guy who heard...."
It's clear you love all things trump; you can see no evil when it comes to him or anyone he employs.
6
@Paul P. -- "You reach beyond the pale with your "linking the US to a Turkish coup" innuendo."
Turkish media has asserted that from the time until now.
Their reasons?
First, the coup was run out of the American CIA base in Turkey shared with the particular officers who did it.
Second, the very delayed US reaction, saying nothing until the coup failed.
Third, the media response from inside the Beltway leaks that strongly approved of the coup.
Fourth, they have close relations with the CIA and our Incirlik Base, and from those relations claim they "knew it" at the time the US "did it." Maybe, but that is what they say.
How long did Americans deny the CIA operations of Air America into Laos? Years. Yes, we do have hidden CIA operations. That is why they are called "covert." Some "covert" operations actually are not on the front pages of our own newspapers. That does not make it untrue that we did them.
And no, disapproval of all things Hillary is not the same as defending Trump. Questioning her ongoing lies and excuses is not the same as accepting Trump's lies and excuses. How about you? How credulous are you in this comment?
This is the same cleric that Flynn and his son were accused of plotting to kidnap and send back to Turkey. Flynn's son's legal jeopardy was cited as the main reason he cooperated. Why was this not mentioned in the article? Characterizing Flynn's crime as 'failing to register' sounds like a paperwork glitch whereas he was actively plotting for money to send this cleric to his death.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/10/michael-flynn-trump-turkish-dissident-cleric-plot
117
@pat hart I've been waiting for someone to bring up Flynn's son. It wasn't just his own skin he was saving when he cooperated with Mueller. Thank you.
10
@pat hart: FYI, unlike the United States, Turkey does not have the death penalty. Moreover, all criminal cases finalized in the Turkish judicial system can be appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, a supranational court based in Strasbourg, France.
The most likely outcome of cultist Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen's extradition to Turkey would be his receiving a life sentence if convicted of masterminding the failed military coup attempt of July, 2016 during which approximately 300 civilians were killed. At nearly 78 years of age he would die in prison; the Turks hardly need to kill him as you exaggerate.
3
@EMIP Yup, Turkey is the shining example of fair minded justice. Tell that to the Kurds, Armenians, Greeks and Cypriots. Erdogan is just another tin pot dictator enriching his family just like Putin and Trump.
13
Good for the prosecutors. However, they should also be looking at unregistered domestic lobbyists such as billionaire Sheldon Adelson and other influential tycoons who through their campaign contributions to the Trump campaign have influenced our nation's Middle East policy to benefit foreign nations such as Israel; in some cases to the detriment of the United States: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/08/sheldon-adelson-trump-middle-east-policy
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This is not surprising. Like Putin's, Erdogan's tentacles have extended surreptitiously, and illegally if need be, everywhere around the world in order to strengthen his autocratic hold on power and to protect his family's reported corruptly acquired massive wealth. Given his seemingly paranoid fear of the influence of his former partner in crime, Fethullah Gulen, he is desperate to get Gulen within his clutches.
However, the US government apparently believes Gulen would quickly disappear into a Turkish prison, where he would join countless journalists, academics, Kurdish politicians and others who had the audacity to try to exercise free speech in Turkey. Gulen would join his cult's thousands of his almost certainly innocent followers who are alleged to have been involved in the attempted coup by some hapless Gulenist military officers in 2016. To imprison all members of a cult because of the illegal acts of a few of them is what currently passes for Turkish justice these days.
In any case, it's obvious our government has reasonably concluded that if Gulen is extradited, like all the others now rotting away in Turkish prisons for purely political reasons, he will not be accorded any semblance of justice.
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What about the long and nefarious tentacles from the secret/shadow USA government?
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@Jamie Nichols
"...apparently believes Gulen would quickly disappear into a Turkish prison" is probably wrong. Gulen would simply disappear.
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@RBR: If you are alluding to the covert activities of our CIA, NSA and military abroad, I would agree and also say they have been far more extensive and immoral than Erdogan's tentacles.
But if you mean the purported "deep state" within our government that Trumpian Republicans falsely claim is persecuting their leaders, I would have to disagree and do so disrespectfully. For the "deep state" nonsense is nothing more than conspiracy nuttiness typically found within the ranks of the far Right and Left, and exploited by malefactors whenever they have no honest defense to their publicly disclosed wrongdoing.
What better definition of a traitor is this Michael Flynn? An ex-general, a military leader; I imagine he can be excused for selling his soul to the Traitor in Chief; that can be construed as loyalty and avarice. When he is paid by a foreign government to facilitate in the extradition of a political enemy--when in so doing Mr. Gulen can well be put to death--Mr. Flynn authenticates his traitorous credentials. Whatever Mr. Gulen's actions were in Turkey, whether he is extradited or not must be determined by legitimate United States criteria--not by the publicity and influence campaign of a turncoat. I wonder if Mr. Flynn would have taken the opportunity to sell out his troops if the opportunity had arisen while he was in service?
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Another card carrying member of the Trump club.
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Trump said that he would “Drain the swamp.” But he never told us that by doing so, it would make room for his cesspool of corrupt people.
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Not much info in this article. Just some basic info would be nice. Are they in custody? Is says they were indicted but so were 20 something Russians that will NEVER see trial in the USA. Is this a felony? 18 U.F.C. 371 has both felony and misdemeanor charges. Pretty weak story by the NYT's.
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Mitch McConnell and his *cronies" appear to be calling. the line in Washingto. At times it appears that we have a part-time "POTUSA".Why??
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Dear NYT:
A few nits: The story falsely claims that in early 2017 Turkey engaged in a "secret" lobbying campaign to obtain the expulsion/extradition of Gulen. In fact, Turkey loudly and officially demanded that Gulen be expelled by the US as far back as June 2016.
Moreover, the registration law was intended to shed light on secret attempts to lobby the US government. These were not "secret" efforts, and the two men accused of conspiracy are high-profile Turkish businessmen known to be close to Erdogen. This is ludicrous.
The Times claims this prosecution is evidence of a widespread crackdown. Not so. This is yet another highly selective Mueller prosecution of a secondary target, tenuously connected to Trump.
Why no prosecution of the Podesta lobbying firm, or of GPS Fusion, which was lobbying for Russian interests to blunt or roll back the Magnitsky Act?
It was GPS Fusion that drafted (prior to the Russian prosecutor's review, that The Times wrote about) the now infamous Trump Tower memo about alleged illegal Democrat campaign contributions that Ms. Veselnitskaya used to try to obtain sanctions relief.
Finally, the Times caption to this story falsely claims that Bijan Kian was "charged for a conspiracy to violate federal lobbying rules and making false statements to F.B.I agents." In fact, Kian was charged only with conspiracy.
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@Jorge
Making public demands for extradition is NOT the same as secretly conspiring to manipulate U.S. public opinion to serve the interests of a foreign nation. The second is legitimately illegal because it threatens the people's right to make informed decisions, essential in a democracy.
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@catlogic
Wow. Our public square is a small, scared and cramped place if our democracy can be undermined by an editorial in a newspaper or a facebook campaign.
Is it your position that foreigners cannot state their views in our media?
Instead of banning all foreigners from expressing views that may be favorable to foreign governments, how about instead we fight fire with fire, argue the merits of the case, and trust our citizens to sort through the dueling narratives? Isn't that what we call democracy?
This growing urge to attack and shame non-PC speech and to criminalize political speech, and a concomitant distrust of our citizens, is what we should fear -- not an op ed that may have been applauded by Turkey.
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In my opinion, Flynn is the very worst of team Trump. A career military guy who went rogue and sold out the country. Thanks Robert Mueller. You are a true patriot and American hero.
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It appears as if the DOJ and the FBI have been twiddling their collective thumbs for years. What's up with that? Our ruling class seems to be a mass of corruption, tax-evading, foreign agents, money laundering, embezzlement, ponzi schemes, and other financial crimes.
"The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced." -- Frank Zappa
51
Well. To paraphrase Frederick Douglas on Andrew Johnson, 'the Constitution and laws work great when a good man is in charge. What about when a bad man is in charge?'
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@Barbyr The main problem is that 'the wheels of justice grind slowly" or basically karma just takes forever.
3
The swamp is being drained, not by Trump, but by the prosecutors he's been smearing and criticizing since he took office.
Very soon Trump and his organized crime syndicate will be going down the drain with the rest of the Trump Swamp.
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When this crass presidency will end?
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@su
When he's Impeached.
4
To tell you the truth I have lost complete confidence in our military leaders to do what is right. Look at Flynn, Kelly, Mattis.
Pompeo was 1st at West Point. He has no qualms about defending Trump no matter what. He has even indirectly endorsed the killing of Khashoggi. Are these people have the best in mind for our country?
Think about it.
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Are they going after Tony Podesta -who was as involved in lobbying for Ukraine as Manafort was - or is this just an investigation of Republican unregistered foreign lobbyists?
2
They are going after Podesta. It has been reported that he has been under investigation for months.
What's going on? Golden Boy Flynn is trying to arrange a murder for Erdogan who just spilled the beans on Saudi Arabia's murder and Trump approves of them both? Can Dictators do no wrong in Trump's dazzled eyes?
19
Flynn is just one more of this monstrous crew and although he just at the tip of the iceberg, he belongs in a prison jumpsuit along with the rest of these corrupt, immoral and evil men who are part of conspiracy to destroy our confidence in any sense of of American democracy.
What a pity he is offered a free pass in trading his crimes off against cooperation with the Special Counsel.
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Flynn would have lobbies for the Devil himself if the Devil had paid him a retainer. I hope they lock him up and throw away the key -- not that it would help those locked up for 20 years for repeated misdemeanours.
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There was a reason Obama fired the corrupted Flynn.
And there was a reason a man like donald trump embraced him.
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This isn't difficult, if you work for a foreign government you register as an agent, it's been that way for 80 years. The egregious paper work? All of six pages 18 questions. If there's even a question of working indirectly for a foreign government you fill out the form.
Unless these people had been held incommunicado for the last two years they should have been aware of the law and had ample opportunity to comply with the legal requirements.
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Just another example of how much this administration has been influenced by foreign governments. The Trump candidacy and presidency has sent a huge signal to the world:
"U.S. Foreign and Domestic Policy for Sale!"
If we don't clean house after this unprecedented level of corruption and establish new measures to strengthen existing laws designed to prevent foreign interference in our democracy, it will happen again. Only next time foreign governments and corrupt U.S. politicians will find more sophisticated ways to circumvent existing laws and norms to achieve their secret agendas.
Americans should never have to be suspicious that our elected officials are working on behalf of another government or country.
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@Cindy Nagrath,
Rather, I think, the people of the US should *always* be suspicious that your elected officials are working on behalf of another government or country -- and be *thankful* when you determine they aren't.
2
@Cindy Nagrath
For starters, it would help to overturn Citizens United to get big money out of our political system. We need to look to the UK for improvements to electoral politics.
Negative ads are verboten. Everyone gets the same amount of "screen time". I doubt this will happen however, with our Supreme Court stacked with conservatives who are likely to oppose any restrictions on the free-for-all that our election politics has turned into. Government by the highest bidder...cushy jobs in Washington for the biggest supporters...policies to benefit the 1% who have bought our government.
11
As long as they let "dark money" in, they CAN'T keep foreign powers from meddling, because you can't tell where dark money comes from.
5
The indictment actually is “further evidence of a broad crackdown” on unregistered foreign agents with ties or links to the Trump administration or Trump campaign. When the Justice Department’s Foreign Agent Registration United discovers that Americans should have registered as foreign agents, it normally sends them a letter notifying then that they are required to register. The Justice Department normally only prosecutes those who fail to comply with the notifications. Bijan Kian and Ekim Alptekin are being prosecuted because they have ties to Michael Flynn, who has ties to the Trump administration.
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@William Case
Your point? That it's all unjustified and a witch hunt? Seriously?
3
@LFK
The FARA indictments have nothing to do with the Mueller investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, which Trump describes as a witch hunt. They are for failing to to register as foreign agents for Turkey, which is one of our NATO allies.
Flynn didn’t forget to register as a foreign agent. He blatantly lied about it, was trying to hide it. He publicly did a 180 on his positions on Turkey, secretly got paid by the Turkish Government, all while advising a presidential candidate, and then President, on foreign affairs.
2
Trump's interview questions for working in the Whitehouse:
1. Have committed crimes?
2. Would you be willing to commit more crimes?
The above was featured on SNL but it sums up the Trump Administration nicely.
40
I’ve read spy novels on the N.Y. Times bestseller list that had less intrigue and plot twists than the Trump administration. What I fail to understand was why after a decorated military career Flynn allowed himself to fall into these deals?
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@C WOlson
Flynn's military career could be decorated, but politics change everything. It is true for many politicians. It is trite, but power, greed, and arrogance control these individuals than the other way around. We could make the same argument to Trump & Co as well. He was better off before presidency, and the Pandora's box is wide open now.
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@C WOlson
Filthy lucre.
5
I, for one, applaud the DOJ finally giving FARA some teeth. We Americans are skilled enough at stirring our own pot at home without foreign funding muddying our debates up any further. Maybe soon we can pass some genuine campaign finance reform and kill the dark multi-million dollar contributions and the "uncoordinated" supporting work of the Super PACS.
Let's hope such reforms prove more popular after SC Mueller's work is done and Americans get a better appreciation for the corrosive nature of moneyed interests, both foreign and domestic, on the affairs of our nation. It's long past time!
19
Agreed, and let's stop interfering in other sovereign nations' elections, shall we?
3
Combining this stuff with Flynn's phony story of FBI entrapment, why doesn't Mueller withdraw his no-prison recommendation prior to tomorrow's sentencing? The things Flynn spilled to Mueller in their 19 meetings must be pretty juicy! But, for now, all us hoi polloi see is the leniency for Flynn.
17
I can see now why Gen. Michael Flynn overturned the Trump apple cart: to save himself.
And to think that he was Donald Trump’s first choice for national security adviser and the president only (reluctantly) fired him 41 days after Sally Yates notified the Trump White House counsel that Flynn was fatally compromised and that he—the president—could be likewise compromised.
It’s clear here that Turkey was far from being Michael Flynn’s only paymaster. Robert Mueller is on the president’s case; no “witch hunt” or “hoax” here. Right, No. 45? I wonder what Mitch McConnell or Devin Nunes thinks about all this.
21
@Red Sox, '04, '07, '13, ‘18, Why would you ever assume that those two actually "think"? They exist in alternative fact Trumptopia. What is disgusting is that Americans voted for these liars. They could not define what a democracy is with a straight face.
2
Flynn should get the maximum sentence for selling out our country and our Intelligence Community based on his belief in conspiracy theories and on his greed. Flynn seems to have lost it when it was discovered he was an erratic and unintelligent person rather than and IC hero.
16
Wonder when these folks will get around to charging Democratic lobbyists like Tony Podesta for failing to register as lobbyists working for foreign interests.
Okay, that was a joke, we know the answer.
@Chuck French, Can you show evidence that Mr Podesta didn't register? As noted in another comment, many people (myself included, once) register just in case a gig's details weren't correctly described when one signed on. It's cheap insurance.
1
This is all interesting, but the crimes here are Flynn working for Turkey without disclosing it and possibly planning or facilitating a kidnapping. The point is that unless Mueller is hiding this for the moment, Flynn's crimes having noting to do with Trump himself colluding with Russia or obstructing justice. And, then the crime Flynn pled to, lying to the FBI, now appears to be a joke. Director Comey, quoting him," would not have been able to have Flynn questioned without warning him or having counsel present in a less disorganized administration: we got away with it." The reality here is that people have been convicted or pled to crimes that have, so far, not implicated Trump in anything Russian though via Cohen there may be something as to paying off , in effect, call girls. And, just maybe there will be foreign governments contributing to the inauguration. This country can not take much more of TD, so Mr. Mueller do you have something that directly involves TD and the Russian government or not? If not, please close up shop and go home. If so, get it out now, so congress or the courts can deal wit it.
Now there are two others in Trump's stable and swamp of corruption. This may even out a little bit of Erdogan's thugs attacking demonstrators in front of the Turkish embassy in DC.
25
Yep, this goes way back and ensnares MIKE PENCE as well. Rep. Cummings tried to warn Pence about Flynn and his dirty partners in Nov. 2016, now Pence claims he never got the letter. Sadly for him, Rep. Cummings has the receipt for delivery and actually issued a press conference at the time.
Criminals, the lot of them!
read it here (scroll down to Nov. 2016 for specific infrmation):
https://www.justsecurity.org/47121/turkey-valentines-day-trump-obstruct-investigation-flynns-kidnap-plots/
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@Drew Very interesting.
6
The elf on the shelf is in for a rude awakening me thinks and all the sanctimonious nothings that he provides to the American public and his evangelical base will be exposed for what they are.
29
@Cindy Nagrath
One again, if nothing illegal was happening, why all the lies? AND remember Pence was selected by... drumroll please... Paul Manafort.
The same Paul Manafort who continues to lie about his involvement with Russians (and others in the shady international lobbying community) to this day. Again, if everything was above-board, why lie? Pence is up to his eyeballs in whatever the Trump campaign did, and he'll go right along with them when the time comes.
Keep an eye on this story, there is more on the way. Ready for President Pelosi?
I know I am.
12
It is beyond comprehension that Flynn was National Security Advisor. With all these indictments, when will the cognitive dissonance among Trump's "base" become too much? What is beyond rationalization?
117
yes, for some it is cognitive dissonance. But for a large number of people whose only source of information is Fox "news" and internet and radio crackpots, they are simply not aware of these things. They are both uniformed and misinformed. And they like it that way.
29
You have to remember that Trump's base is never exposed to this type of information. An example is when Trump was laughed at during his UN speech... FAUX news - excluding Shep - raved at how Trump masterfully warmed up the UN with some humor. The video was cut - badly in my opinion - to try to prove Don the Con's artful oratory skills. Truly his base feeds on, and is insulated by, FAKE news.
39
@Dr. M A great question. My theory is that once Trump's "base" becomes more and more isolated from what was once known as "Republican," then it will consist mainly of voters once known as "apathetic." One portion belongs to people who listened to Fox News or Breitbard exclusively, so have become completely brainwashed with tabloid propaganda; another belongs to anarchists who found a voice in lies by joining the Russian trolls. As we see in Donald's demeanor these days, that base will never recognize reality in their common state of incoherent and self-righteous, reactionary stupor; and that level of passion represents a clear and present danger to Civil Society, as distinguished from "conservative nationalism" in the service of Russian subversion. Trump's new trend toward constant self-contradiction suggests the end of some era of total abstraction in our "fake news." The facts are quickly catching up with the real issues that involve our Civil Society more fundamentally, as a matter of political theory, even as the "parties" were excluded from the forces of "partisan" politics in a common ground of greed and corruption.
12
Michael T. Flynn, America's first national security adviser also serving as the agent of foreign governments, is truly a bad dude. How is he going to get away with little or no prison time for repeated violations of the law and treasonous actions and behavior, other than the fact he has provided substantial and convincing evidence that trump has done much MUCH worse crimes.
Hopefully the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, can sue Flynn and his cronies in civil court for lobbying to defame him and essentially threatening his life and liberty for profit.
Flynn Intel Group ... not so intelligent - just greedy.
64
@PAN It would seem in more technical terms of the law, that this unsealed indictment may have some bearing on the fact that Flynn will be sentenced on Wednesday for certain lies about other facts. If Flynn's attorneys agreed with the Government that he deserved as little as no time, he will still be obliged to cooperate as this new matter goes forward. If he receives probation instead of prison time, he may need to watch who he contacts while he is under the radar of the Grand Jury in Virginia as well as the tentacles of Guccifer embracing Roger Stone these days . . . If I were Mueller, I might still be wondering how the guy who wanted to kidnap Gulen with Carter Page relates to the guy who sits next to Putin at "friendship-medal" time with lots of badmouth for Obama. Notice how Mueller replied to Flynn's attorneys' assertion that those lies were merely some misunderstanding. Notice how making America great again has become the Guiliani version of Fantasyland. And how did Congress suddenly take an interest in murders after the Washington Post lost a columnist? Did Jared lose a friend or did the friend meet his fate? Who needs a security clearance, anyway? Not MbS.
5
@Bruce Mincks
I agree with all you say and hope you are right that Flynn will get some kind of punishment - he's obviously no patriot as he sold his country to the Russians and Turks, oh and Saudi Arabia with his Russian-nuclear deals.
I wonder how much top secret intel Jared is feeding his buddy MbS. Indeed, why Jared hasn't registered as an agent of a foreign country. Kidnapping and murder are all OK for these horrible characters, now running our country.
7
The "witch hunt" keeps finding more witches.
136
Mueller strikes again! Whenever someone tells you Trump was born in NYC remind them that Robert Mueller was too.
43
And verify...
2
Why doesn't this article mention the amount of money that Flynn was paid for his part in these criminal activities? The green slime of money needs to be made clear to all the still hanging-on supporters of an evil clown show.
125
@kfm I believe I heard Fox News screaming that poor Michael Flynn has run out of money and had to sell his house and is now broke. Isn't that just terrible?
11
@kfm Such "green slime" would only "aggravate" a "petty" offense or qualify as a felony instead of a misdemeanor. The substance of the matter is among the account numbers, the titles to the accounts, and the labyrinth of shell companies, LLCs, and limited partnerships which relate tax fraud to treason under these circumstances.
8
How deep does this criminality extend? Russian money funneled thru the NRA to Republican Congressman? Could Mitch McConnell be indicted, or is that just wishful thinking?
282
@dbl06
We can only hope. There is something in the Republican leadership that stinks.
30
@dbl06
That’s MY Christmas wish!!!
9
dbl06,
Also, why did Republican members of the Appropriations Committee have to go to Russia on the 4th of July (of all days) to meet with Kremlin officials? (Why would anyone from the Appropriations Committee have to meet with Russian officials?)
I think Putin has kompromat on a lot of members of the GOP.
10
I'm a little confused here. Which country was Flynn a National Security advisor FOR?!
232
Not USA sure..
27
@Bob
That was actually funny. And only the truth is funny.
8
@Bob flynnland of course!
16
As the crackdown on the criminal web around Trump expands, we'll get a better look at just how shady this administration was from the very beginning. The president, his family, and the republican party will rue the day he decided to run.
188
Michael Flynn agreed to plea guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador even though the conversations were entirely legal in exchange for clemency on charges involving his firm's lobbying work that benefitted Turkey. Flynn was actually prosecuted because Trump won the election.
When the Justice Department's Foreign Agent Restoration Unit determines that Americas should have registered as foreign agents, it normally sends them letters informing them that they have to register. If they failed to comply, they are fined. Instead of simply being notified they have to register, Bijan Kian and Ekim Alptekin are being prosecuted because Flynn was President Trump's national security advisor for a short time.
@William Case Flynn was prosecuted because he lied to the FBI, actively sought to obstruct their investigations.
He also knew the seriousness of lobbying on behalf of other countries without disclosing he was being paid--as an ex-Intel director and General he certainly knew what he was doing was illegal & compromised him further when he accepted a position as a NSA.
By not disclosing his conflicts, and by lying, he opened himself up to blackmail...just as the President was warned by then Acting AG Yates.
Just because others haven't been aggressively prosecuted for crimes doesn't make it less of a crime...and General Flynn's unique situation made him especially culpable for his criminal actions.
22
@William Case
And your source of information is?
3
Lemme see if I have this straight: you think that Trump’s handpicked Guy, Jeff Sessions, ran a Justice Department that went after Flynn because Trump won the election?
Hoo, boy. I’d ask your views on Bigfoot, but pretty sure I can guess.
11
drain the swamp, indeed.
i don't understand how and/or why anyone regardless of party, age, colour or creed wouldn't applaud this indictment.
yeah you can be blue team or red team or whatever, but at the end of the day it's still team USA. you have to be able to draw a line and say "wait, these guys aren't being honest about who they represent". there's a reason why FARA exists.
let alone the fact that michael flynn essentially drafted a plan to kidnap a US resident on behalf of a foreign country (while he, also, was unregistered as a foreign agent while being the incoming national... yes, NATIONAL security advisor).
shocking.
163
@moralhazard It's worse than a House of Cards plot!
7
Thanks Mueller and team, rarely have so many been indebted to so few.
230
@CD The public needs to know that Robert Mueller is a Republican not a Democrat and a former Director of the FBI appointed by a Republican President George Bush. He is not on a Democrat on political witch hunt as implied by Trump but a Republican Patriot in search of the truth to protect our democracy. Read the Bios on Trump & Mueller then decide who is the honorable Patriot.
Generals (and Presidents) are not above the Law.
115
It would seem that Flynn, as the person at the top of this criminal activity, would do more jail time for this than the underlings. The only explanation can be that Flynn has provided much, much, much valuable evidence against Trump. That Flynn was called to settle Trump down when he was upset indicates he KNOWS what worries Trump had, which include actions that are surely criminal. You don't need to read into this aspect to know that Trump acts in criminal ways continuously, as is evidence by the consequential number of criminal investigations that are ongoing. My guess is that if a book is ever written that documents all of this, it will be many volumes in length. It could be titled: "The longest criminal story ever told".
65
Trump promised to drain the swamp, but it appears that Mueller is the one who is wielding the big swamp vacuum.
88