As you know, if you’ve been reading Political Animal, I’ve been trying to debunk the right-wing talking points suggesting that Michael Flynn was wrongly prosecuted for more than a year. I’ve written more pieces about Michael Flynn than anyone involved in the Russia case, with the possible exception of Paul Manafort. So, I took great satisfaction on Tuesday when US District Judge Emmet Sullivan absolutely raked Flynn over the coals during his sentencing hearing.
In particular, Judge Sullivan took strong exception to the exact thing I have been complaining about, which is the suggestion that Flynn was somehow set up by the FBI and should never have been charged with lying to its agents. What caused this backlash was a highly questionable decision by Flynn’s lawyers to inject right-wing talking points into their filing asking for leniency. It was a wholly unnecessary move. Based on Flynn’s extensive cooperation with the Office of Special Counsel and his lack of prior offenses and his decades of (mostly) distinguished military service, the OSC was recommending no jail time. Based on the sentencing guidelines, which called for a term of incarceration of 0-6 months, there was a very real prospect that Flynn would pay a fine, do some community service and get a period of supervised probation, but otherwise walk away unscathed.
In an indication of how divorced the Republicans have become from reality, several right-wing media outlets spent Monday evening speculating that Judge Sullivan might even throw out Flynn’s guilty plea entirely because he would ultimately agree that Flynn was entrapped. That did not happen.
Instead, Sullivan tore into Flynn and his lawyers. He almost bizarrely put Flynn under oath before demanding that he admit his guilt and deny all the right-wing talking points which have recently been repeated by the president himself. He forced Flynn to admit that he knew he was wrong to lie to the FBI and that there had been no misconduct in how his interviews were conducted. He acknowledged that any possible wrongdoing then-Deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe and counterintelligence official Peter Strzok may have committed in other areas had no bearing on his responsibility to be truthful to federal agents.
Judge Sullivan openly questioned whether Flynn could have been charged with treason for operating as an undeclared agent of a foreign power while serving as National Security Advisor, suggested that Flynn had dishonored the flag that was displayed in the courtroom and said “arguably you sold your country out.”
He also asked Flynn’s lawyers how their filing was consistent with the client taking responsibility for his actions and advised them that they might want to delay sentencing since he was not inclined to let Flynn avoid incarceration.
After a request for a recess was granted to Flynn’s team, they came back and agreed to a ninety-day delay in sentencing. It appears that Sullivan was concerned that Flynn might not have fulfilled his obligation to cooperate or might cease his cooperation once sentenced. He questioned the prosecutors on this point and was told that is was “possible” that Flynn might not be done cooperating. In any case, he clearly wasn’t satisfied that Flynn had done enough.
Of course, what’s so strange about this is that the Office of Special Counsel was prepared to see Flynn get off with probation today and was not requesting anything from the judge. They had expressed their clear displeasure with the filing Flynn’s lawyers submitted, but they had not tried to back out of the deal or backtracked on their recommendation of no jail time.
It seems to me that Flynn’s lawyers did a bad disservice to their client by trying to help President Trump. Trump’s team has been infiltrating all these Russia-based cases by signing defense cooperation agreements, and it looks like they succeeded in convincing Flynn’s lawyers to inject right-wing conspiracy language into an official court filing.
This obviously backfired in spectacular fashion. Now Flynn is in limbo for another ninety days and has been branded a traitor by a federal judge in a case where he was only accused of lying.
I could not be more satisfied with this result.
Of a piece with a popular joke on the intertoobz:
“I hired Rudy Giuliani to fix a parking ticket. Now I’m on death row.”
It’s absolutely incumbent upon a federal judge in accepting a plea arrangement to have the defendant be absolutely aware of what they are admitting, and that they are knowingly waiving their right to a jury trial on the merits. Any weaseling in the sentencing recommendation by the defendant could be grounds for arguing that the defendant did not willingly and knowingly waive their right to a trial. So, reading that information it’s the judge’s responsibility to go over the information with the defendant, if it is unclear whether he really knowingly accepts responsibility and is really admitting what he did.
The added bit about betraying his country is probably the judge’s take on Flynn’s odious conduct. I am inclined to think that Flynn responded to overtures from Trump or right-wing Trump supporters to take the “martyr path” and allege that he was coerced into his confession. I just can’t believe that sensible lawyers would try and put a political action memo into his defense brief. That cannot possibly impress the Court, and he’s lucky the Judge didn’t blow up the deal.
That 90 days strikes me, in my admittedly limited experience in Federal Court, as a warning from the judge not to screw around. Either Flynn is admitting everything, cooperating and throwing himself on the mercy of the Court, or he is not. If not, then he needs to reconsider his plea agreement and decide if he wants to go to trial.
The fact that he’s guilty as hell and would never see the outside of prison again if he choose that route is procedurally irrelevant to his rights: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury. . . .” Amendment VI.
I will take this opportunity to state a prime rule of life;
Never listen to what a person says, always watch what they do, because that tells you how they really feel.
In this case, the judge let Flynn go scott free, with no consequences for committing multiple felonies. It makes one wonder how many poor black defendants this judge has let go.
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What are you talking about? The judge didn’t “let him go.” The judge just ensured that the OSC will be able to squeeze every last drop out of him now before he is sentenced. Even if he just gets probation there’s more blood they now WILL get out of that stone.
LOL!
What did Flynn want, above all else? He wanted to go home after the hearing. Where is Flynn now? He is home, after the hearing.
The judge basically told him `go home, come up with a better story’.
The judge could have put Flynn in jail right then, and watched to see if Flynn continued to coooperate.
The whole thing is kabuki.
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If the judge was looking to send Flynn home scott-free he had every opportunity to do so. Prosecutors recommend it based on his cooperation. If this was a kabuki show it certainly wasn’t to Flynn’s benefit.
Exactly
It’s unbelievable to me how people believe this wasn’t to Flynn’s benefit. He’s home. He gets a `do over’ on his public statements. Flynn disrespected everyone with his sentencing memo, and the judge sent him home to spend Christmas with his family.
Nobody seems to realize that the judge could have given him 30 days in jail, with 5 years probation, that probation dependent on cooperation. He could have given him one year in jail, suspended…that suspension dependent on a hearing in 90 days on his further cooperation.
Marduk…if it was not to Flynn’s benefit, how is he worse off today, than yesterday?
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The most obvious way he’s worse off is that he and his attorneys just admitted under oath that their wingnut conspiracy theory about the FBI was a crock of shit and that he’s guilty as sin.
The next most obvious is that instead of going home with his legal troubles resolved the threat of an extended jail stay remains a sword of Damocles hanging over his head. Incidentally compelling any remaining cooperation.
All of which existed yesterday.
He had already admitted guilt on the first part. The memo was for the POTUS, and Fox News, nobody thought a conspiracy would work for the judge, except maybe Flynn. And the second part was true yesterday.
If what you wrote is what you consider `worse off’, it’s pretty thin gruel.
`Worse off’ would be a convicted felon, spending the holidays in prison with the rest of the crooks.
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. . . that Mueller’s team’s recommendation was no jail time?
I see no reason to think Flynn entered the courthouse today expecting anything other than walking out with no time to serve, as long as he follows through with other conditions.
He didn’t.
I’d call that worse off.
Would probably have happened in any event. Compare Michael Cohen’s results.
I’m with the community on this one, nalbar. Judge Sullivan made Flynn and his counsel, under oath, admit their bullshit in the defense filing was bullshit. And he told them that he was prepared today to reject the prosecution’s recommendation that Flynn’s sentence include no jail time, now and forever. Flynn hoped to go home for Christmas with assurance that he would not go to jail; the Judge denied him that pleasure.
It’s not a ‘do over’- it’s a repudiation, under threat of jail if he backtracks and plays rhetorical footsie with Trump and his supporters again.
Also, too, the prosecutors may have been confident that they will continue to get prime co-operation from Flynn on remaining prosecutions of others even after the sentence is handed down, but I’m more confident that he will fully comply with the threat of prison hanging out there for a few more months.
It appears not many here have been in a court room watching judges sentence people. I have.
It’s nothing like this.
Since the community disagrees with me, I’ll stop trying to convince them.
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Judge: do you admit you knowingly committed a felony when you lied to the FBI?
Flynn: Yes, your honor.
Judge: I want you to go home and spend the holidays thinking about that.
LOL!
OK OK OK, I’ll stop.
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How often is someone sentenced when a prosecutor doesn’t recommend it?
You’ve mostly convinced me. But how often do men with Flynn’s military rank and political connection face any consequences from the justice system? I mean, Patraeus got off even lighter than Flynn.
So maybe this judge said, “Instead of letting you off without a slap on the wrist, I hereby slap the wrist! Now I’m letting you off.” But hey, get got a slap on the wrist, so …
Just a reminder that everyone expected that Flynn would be a convicted felon today.
He’s not, even though he pled guilty.
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Right now the only one gung ho about letting Flynn off scott-free is Mueller (even after he reviewed and “objected” to the defense sentencing brief likely drafted by Fox News). Why is it that life-long Republican Mueller chose that route? Even the prosecutors conceded that there is no agreement for Flynn to continue to cooperate after sentencing. Interesting, isn’t it? Maybe time to rethink the Mueller as Captain America nonsense? Just another Republican…. he will go out of his way to avoid discrediting his party as the traitors they are.
Allahpundit, who is better keyed in to the other side’s thinking than we are, observes that, unlike Manafort and Cohen, Flynn was and perhaps still is a MAGA true believer. As a consequence, it would be difficult for him to be purely mercenary in “betraying” Trump. He also has a future on the right-wing martyr circuit he’d like to avoid jeopardizing.
“He also has a future on the right-wing martyr circuit he’d like to avoid jeopardizing.”
That’s it. Flynn was trying to thread the needle. Play nice enough to keep his get out of jail free card while sending enough coded signals to allow the wingnut brigade to tell themselves a story in which Flynn is still a charter member. He was framed! After this is over he wants to be somebody who can still get paid for giving a speech.
So do you think this was a ploy by the OSC/Judge Sullivan to perhaps remind Flynn and his associates’ things are more serious than they thought? Because Mueller had me convinced that this was Flynn’s GET OUT JAIL FREE CARD…..hmmmm.
This was truly a satisfying day in court. The judge’s insistence upon putting Flynn under oath before then forcing him to disgrace every Rep lie that’s been told on his behalf truly returned a star over our legal system.
Then it became clear that this was a judge who was fresh off reading the unredacted memo Mueller’s team provided to the court which clearly portrayed a solemn and dangerous story of Flynn’s involvement in something that was so threatening to our Country that the judge actually brought up the argument for treason in open court.
Flynn and his team were rattled. And they should be. He may have gone home today but his pronouncements of his lies destroyed the yammering Right and for all the Mueller cooperators, those indicted or under scrutiny today was a day that ‘treason’ entered the room and the judge was deadly serious in what that meant going forward.
. . . How Much Time Will It Cost Him?”
(Suggested alternative headline for this piece. 100% agreement with its conclusion.)
The backroom deal as I see it:
Watch.
Will this heel martyr himself for an even worse heel?
I doubt it.
Always remember…the old saying goes “Time heals all wounds.” However, in the long run, MLK Jr.’s idea that “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice” ensures the following.
Flynn will get what’s coming to him, one way or another.
So will Trump.
Watch.
So will we all if we let this fall towards the Trumpistas.
Bet on that as well.
AG
Great work, nalbar, marduk, oaguabonita and the rest of the supposed “community.”
Scratch away.
AG