It looks like a traitor to our country will be sentenced to no more than just 6 months in jail. IMO, we should never have given Flynn a deal so he could bargain his charges down to one count of lying. When I first heard he had cut a deal, I was glad because I thought we’d actually get something from him in return. What did we get? Virtually nothing – as far as I can tell. Someone correct me if I’m wrong – it’s been awhile.
Then on top of being a worthless cooperator, he did his utmost to renege on the deal. Again, just IMO, but if Flynn does receive just six months or less, such a light sentence will just encourage others to follow the same traitorous, lying path that he did.
The article says “the sentencing memo shows just how harshly the Justice Department responds to Flynn’s recent attempts to unravel his guilty plea.” However, personally, I have a different interpretation of the word “harsh.”
President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser Michael Flynn should serve up to six months in jail, prosecutors told a federal judge on Tuesday, saying Flynn has failed to accept responsibility for his actions and undermined a separate criminal case.
The sentencing memo shows just how harshly the Justice Department responds to Flynn’s recent attempts to unravel his guilty plea in the Mueller investigation and says that he sought to thwart the government’s investigation into his former business partner, an abrupt turn from Flynn’s months of cooperation and public reticence during the special counsel’s probe.
“It is clear that the defendant has not learned his lesson,” the Justice Department wrote. “He has behaved as though the law does not apply to him, and as if there are no consequences for his actions.”
Flynn, 61, is set to be sentenced on January 28, more than two years since he pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators.
As a reminder, here’s an article from 2017 that documents just one of the crimes that Flynn should have been found guilty of. Perhaps he can still be charged for this traitorous crime, but maybe his plea deal gave him blanket immunity – I’m not sure.
From 2017: Flynn, paid by Turkey, blocked military move they opposed; told Trump team about investigation
Days before President Donald Trump took office, incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn blocked a military plan against the Islamic State group that was opposed by Turkey, a country he had been paid more than $500,000 to advocate for, the McClatchy news service reported.
According to the report, Flynn declined a request from the Obama administration to approve an operation in the IS stronghold of Raqqa, effectively delaying the military operation. His reasoning wasn’t reported, but Turkey has long opposed U.S. military operations in cooperation with Kurdish forces.
At the time, Flynn had not yet registered as a foreign agent and disclosed that he had been paid to lobby on behalf of the Turkish government. Weeks after his firing, Flynn retroactively registered with the Justice Department.
The story by McClatchy was published online just minutes after a New York Times report that Flynn informed the Trump transition team that he was under Department of Justice scrutiny for his lobbying work on behalf of Turkey before he was hired as NSA. The White House declined comment on the Times piece, but did not offer a denial of the underlying facts.
News about Flynn’s activity comes amid intense scrutiny over his and other Trump associates’ potential contacts with Russia. On Wednesday, the Department of Justice named former FBI Director Robert Mueller to be special counsel investigating Russian efforts to influence the U.S. presidential election. Mueller will have sweeping powers, including the right to bring federal charges.
Two takeaways:
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Trump’s Transition Team, headed by Pence, knew that Flynn received secret payments from Turkey before they vetted him to become the nation’s top security officer. As head of the team Pence must have known what Flynn told the team – Pence is heavily implicated here.
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After receiving secret payments from Turkey, Flynn made a military decision that was favorable to Turkey. In other words, Flynn is a paid traitor.
Since Mueller was chartered only with looking at Trump’s possible involvement in Russian interference in our election, evidently these two extremely serious crimes – one of them implicating our Vice President – were left uninvestigated. And now that the DoJ is in Trump’s pocket, I’m thinking they will never be investigated. However, if Pence is ever put it in position where it looks like he will become President, I can only hope that point 1 above will prevent him from actually taking office.
And here’s more from the NYT (2017) on how Pence, head of Trump’s Transition Team, is implicated in Flynn’s crimes:
