Russia Collusion Scandal (aka A Leftist fantasy)

Josh Campbell

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BREAKING: Judge postpones sentencing hearing for former @realDonaldTrump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. He says both sides can update him on the case in March.

Judge ends with “happy holidays.”


allowing more time for cooperation?
 
Josh Campbell

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@joshscampbell
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BREAKING: Judge postpones sentencing hearing for former @realDonaldTrump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. He says both sides can update him on the case in March.

Judge ends with “happy holidays.”


allowing more time for cooperation?

Judge would have access to more evidence than anyone else. So probably wants Flynn to cooperate more.
 
given Flynn's crimes, a side from what he pled guilty to, I think this judge wants to give him a substantial sentence
 
Ruling in mysterious grand jury subpoena case which we now find out involved an unnamed company owned by an unnamed country.

The Grand Jury seeks information from a corporation (“the Corporation”) owned by Country A. After receiving a subpoena for that information, the Corporation moved to quash claiming (1) that it is immune under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“the Act”) and (2) that the subpoena is unenforceable as unreasonable and oppressive under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 17(c)(2) because it would require the Corporation to violate Country A’s domestic law. The district court denied the motion. On the sovereign immunity issue, the court assumed that immunity applied, but concluded that it had subject-matter jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3231 and that the subpoena fell within the Act’s exception for commercial activities. The court then rejected the claim that Country A’s law barred compliance. When the Corporation failed to produce the requested information, the court held the Corporation in contempt, imposing a fixed monetary penalty to increase each day the Corporation fails to comply. The Corporation appealed. Reviewing the legal questions presented de novo,
In re Sealed Case
, 146 F.3d 881, 883 (D.C. Cir. 1998), we affirm.
 
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Reviewing some of the Flynn sentencing material reminded me of this email from KT McFarland during the transition:

"If there is a tit-for-tat escalation Trump will have difficulty improving relations with Russia, which has just thrown U.S.A. election to him."

Perhaps she phrased things inartfully or was being flippant and didn't really mean what she appears to be saying in the email. But perhaps she meant it. I suppose we will find out in due course what she, Flynn, Trump and others really thought happened vis-a-vis the Russians.
 
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Trump is in a panic over all these converging investigations and the falling stock market. He knows he can never win the legal battle, thus he's trying to score PR points with the public.

He could've declared fake victory over ISIS before now or had a bump stock ban. This is typical bully behavior.
 
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Why did Flynn lie to the FBI? The authors offer some theories. It is a question worth thinking about.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outl...why-flynn-lied-bureau/?utm_term=.d19b8c6a8c91

I'll admit that I'm not as dedicated as most in following this story (call it Trump fatigue), but the possibility exists that Flynn was using Trump as much as vice versa. I think Flynn is a certifiable nut job. For all of his bluster, Trump is clearly a political neophyte who was vulnerable to a flimflam man like Flynn. Flynn saw an opportunity to advance his agenda behind Trump's never ending bullhorn.
 
I'll admit that I'm not as dedicated as most in following this story (call it Trump fatigue), but the possibility exists that Flynn was using Trump as much as vice versa. I think Flynn is a certifiable nut job. For all of his bluster, Trump is clearly a political neophyte who was vulnerable to a flimflam man like Flynn. Flynn saw an opportunity to advance his agenda behind Trump's never ending bullhorn.

Oh I'm pretty sure they were both using each other. In addition to any sort of policy or political agenda, it is also pretty clear that self-enrichment was a big item on Flynn's to-do list. And there are little wisps of smoke hinting at a minimum sloppiness (that is shocking for someone with his background in intelligence) in how he conducted his relationship with the Russians.

While Judge Sullivan might have gotten over his skis a bit, I think the questions he raised about where Misha's true allegiances lay are ones worth raising.

And I'm not quite sure what to make of the lies he told FBI, Pence and others. I have a working theory.
 
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Flynn was working to have a US resident kidnapped and trafficked to Turkey where he would have been tortured and killed. He is a dangerous criminal and thats what prisons are SUPPOSED to be for. Lock his ass up and throw away the key.
 
Oh I'm pretty sure they were both using each other. In addition to any sort of policy or political agenda, it is also pretty clear that self-enrichment was a big item on Flynn's to-do list. And there are little wisps of smoke hinting at a minimum sloppiness (that is shocking for someone with his background in intelligence) in how he conducted his relationship with the Russians.

While Judge Sullivan might have gotten over his skis a bit, I think the questions he raised about where Misha's true allegiances lay are ones worth raising.

And I'm not quite sure what to make of the lies he told FBI, Pence and others. I have a working theory.

Ignorance is no excuse, but I don't think Trump for all his big brain bluster is that intelligent. He understands money, but I don't think he truly understands the nature of political power and how to apply it. Flynn does and Flynn also understands that his (Flynn's) views are so extreme that they would never find purchase with the public at large. Hence, he needed to position himself as the "man behind the curtain" for the Great Oz to pursue significant policy changes (and enrich himself in the process).

Pence doesn't care. I think he's more committed to bringing back the ducking stool than anything else.
 
Flynn was working to have a US resident kidnapped and trafficked to Turkey where he would have been tortured and killed. He is a dangerous criminal and thats what prisons are SUPPOSED to be for. Lock his ass up and throw away the key.

The judge is right to be concerned. There are things that work in Flynn's favor, such as his military service. But there are other things that argue for severity not leniency.
 
I'll admit that I'm not as dedicated as most in following this story (call it Trump fatigue), but the possibility exists that Flynn was using Trump as much as vice versa. I think Flynn is a certifiable nut job. For all of his bluster, Trump is clearly a political neophyte who was vulnerable to a flimflam man like Flynn. Flynn saw an opportunity to advance his agenda behind Trump's never ending bullhorn.

That analogy works with Manafort, too.
 
Ignorance is no excuse, but I don't think Trump for all his big brain bluster is that intelligent. He understands money, but I don't think he truly understands the nature of political power and how to apply it. Flynn does and Flynn also understands that his (Flynn's) views are so extreme that they would never find purchase with the public at large. Hence, he needed to position himself as the "man behind the curtain" for the Great Oz to pursue significant policy changes (and enrich himself in the process).

Pence doesn't care. I think he's more committed to bringing back the ducking stool than anything else.

I'm pretty sure Pence was outside the loop as he claims. But the people that Flynn was working with inside the loop led Flynn to conclude he could lie to the FBI with impunity. That's my working theory. He was taking instructions from Kushner and probably Trump himself. And my reading of his interview with the FBI was that he felt protected enough that he was comfortable lying to them even while knowing they would figure out he was lying. It was a big so what to the FBI. I can do whatever I want and you can't stop me. That's my take. Extreme arrogance. But that arrogance was based upon something.
 
That analogy works with Manafort, too.

Agreed. At a level, I think Trump has the predator's knack for finding other people's weaknesses (I thought his debate performances were a masterful example of that) but little ability to recognize others' strengths. Because of that, he's vulnerable to those who are simply more crafty that he is.
 
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