National Review: Former Trump-administration national-security adviser Michael Flynn is expected to plead guilty today to lying to the FBI regarding his conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.
Flynn, who is reportedly cooperating with the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller, is pleading guilty in federal district court in Washington, D.C., to a one-count criminal information (which is filed by a prosecutor in cases when a defendant waives his right to be indicted by a grand jury).
The false-statement charge, brought under Section 1001 of the federal penal code, stems from Flynn’s conversation on December 29, 2016, with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak. At the time, Flynn was slated to become the national-security adviser to President-elect Donald Trump. The conversation occurred on the same day that then-president Barack Obama announced sanctions against Russia for its interference in the 2016 election. It is believed to have been recorded by the FBI because Kislyak, as an agent of a foreign power, was subject to monitoring under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Mueller has charged Flynn with falsely telling FBI agents that he did not ask the ambassador “to refrain from escalating the situation” in response to the sanctions. In being questioned by the agents on January 24, 2017, Flynn also lied when he claimed he could not recall a subsequent conversation with Kislyak, in which the ambassador told Flynn that the Putin regime had “chosen to moderate its response to those sanctions as a result of [Flynn’s] request.”
Furthermore, a week before the sanctions were imposed, Flynn had also spoken to Kislyak, asking the ambassador to delay or defeat a vote on a pending United Nations resolution. The criminal information charges that Flynn lied to the FBI by denying both that he’d made this request and that he’d spoken afterward with Kislyak about Russia’s response to it.
Thus, in all, four lies are specified in the one count. The potential sentence is zero to five years’ imprisonment. Assuming Flynn cooperates fully with Mueller’s investigators, there will little, if any, jail time. Obviously, it was wrong of Flynn to give the FBI false information; he could, after all, have simply refused to speak with the agents in the first place.
That said, as I argued early this year, it remains unclear why the Obama Justice Department chose to investigate Flynn. There was nothing wrong with the incoming national-security adviser’s having meetings with foreign counterparts or discussing such matters as the sanctions in those meetings. Plus, if the FBI had FISA recordings of Flynn’s conversations with Kislyak, there was no need to ask Flynn what the conversations entailed.
h/t Dianny @ Patriot Retort. Please, go check out her article as well.
So, all communications occurred AFTER the election. Big stretch to make this appear as collusion.
The intent was to break Flynn’s balls so he’d roll over on Trump.
It’s so much fun watching all these idiots on Twitter pretend to be legal experts. McCarthy throws all kinds of cold water on them here.
And I don’t know about you, but I’m enjoying watching these asshats do an end-zone dance over this while still on their own five yard-line. It makes the bitter disappointment that’s coming all the more Schadenfreuderrific.
Rush Limbaugh thinks it’s such a nothing story, that he has quit talking about it.
They had a couple California State Assembly men on our local talk radio this morning. Both former prosecutors. They’re convinced e are about 45 days from a Trump perp walk. The Libtartds seem to think collusion is a foregone conclusion.
Hey, that rimes. I think I can make a rap song out of this.
BETTER CALL SAUL!
How many times did Saul Goodman tell Jessie Pinkman “You didn’t tell them anything did you!?”
A LAWYER answers questions to the police or FBI. They ask you if the sky is blue, you let your lawyer answer that.
They are not there to HELP YOU, they are there to PROSECUTE YOU!
NOW LOOK AT FLYNN! You dummy. You let a LAWYER speak to the FBI on your behalf. They get you talking, and then you’re toast.
🎥 Don’t talk to the police: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE
Never underestimate the crooked courts, prosecutors, lawyers and judges. We need a purge of the judicial system.
Initial drop of Dow, cancelling out a lot of yesterday’s gain, now down to around 75.
The report that Senate has votes for tax bill is pushing it back up.
Senator Warner had to get out there and do his BS to justify Senate investigation continuing.
A lot of hoo hah about nothing.
Yer kidding yourself if you think Our President hasn’t game planned for every possible scenario.
Go buy some popcorn and enjoy the next 7 years.
Luckily, Section 1001 of the federal penal code doesn’t apply to Congressmen, Senators, former Secretary of State and her staff.
The petty Mueller is clutching at straws to get a pelt.
Nothing improper or illegal in an incoming WH Adviser contacting an Ambassador to discuss and coordinate on policy.
The old dirty prosecutorial trick of “lying” about matters which are not crimes.
Innocent as Flynn may be, he must now be considered a captive POW of Mueller. Anything he says will be at Mueller’s dictation to incriminate PDT.
The obvious will be to frame PDT for attempted “obstruction” even though there was no crime to “obstruct”.
It’s insane to allow Mueller to continue with his fatal conflicts of interest, BFF Comey and Uranium One for starters.
Pull the plug Mr. President.
Remove Mueller and his Dem team and repurpose the Special Counsel to investigate U-One, the $150M Russian bribes to the Clinton Foundation and the other genuine crimes.
And just one more time– how the hell did AL Senator Sessions get so entangled in Russian matters that he had to RECUSE himself on Day One? What’s he (still) hiding?
I want to know when Mueller will face the music for uranium 1.
The DOJ needs to sweat his boney ass and see how he like’s it.
http://therightscoop.com/watch-fox-news-catherine-herridge-reports-that-the-contact-with-russia-had-to-do-with-a-un-vote/
Old wily Flynn lied on purpose about his Russian contacts. Then by pleading guilty to lying to the FBI, he could bargain that (and some potential anti-Trump testimony) into not being charged for much more serious activities that he and his son were involved with (see Turkish intrigue)!
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but didn’t miss Hillary lie to the FBI when she stated that all her work related emails had been turned over?