{UAH} Edward Mulindwa/Frank Mujabi; This was the Judge you were depending on???? Judge Tells Michael Flynn: ‘You Sold Your Country Out’ and Suggests He Committed Treason

Judge Tells Michael Flynn: 'You Sold Your Country Out' and Suggests He Committed Treason

A judge berated him for covering up his conversations with Russia and lying about it in the White House.

Julia Arciga

12.18.18 12:22 PM ET

Andrew Harrer/Getty

The sentencing for Michael Flynn, President Trump's short-lived national security adviser, took a stunning turn on Tuesday after a judge questioned whether he could have been charged with treason.

"Arguably, this undermines everything this flag over here stands for," U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan told Flynn. "Arguably, you sold your country out."

ADVERTISEMENT

The judge's tongue-lashing added high drama to a proceeding that had been expected to be cut-and-dry because of Flynn's plea deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Mueller's endorsement of a no-jail sentence.

The mood in the Washington, D.C., courtroom turned dark. Flynn, who had come in smiling and back-slapping, left with his jaw clenched for a half-hour recess to decide whether he should ask for a postponement of the sentencing.

The first inkling that things might not go as planned came when Sullivan announced that he had concerns about the circumstances of the FBI interview in which Flynn admits he lied about his contacts with Russian officials—issues that Flynn's lawyers also had raised in recent court filings.

He offered Flynn the opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea or to delay the sentencing until he was done cooperating.

Flynn attorney Robert Kelner said his client "stands by his guilty plea" and accepts "full responsibility" for his falsehoods and did not want to back away from his plea agreement with Mueller.

RELATED IN POLITICS

Flynn Behaved Like Mueller's Dream Cooperator

Turkey Lobbying Charges Show 2016 Wasn't Just About Russia

Comey: FBI Investigated Four Trump Associates in Summer 2016

And a prosecutor on a Mueller's team told the judge that Flynn may continue to cooperate with their ongoing investigations and had helped them bring charges against a former business partner accused of acting as a foreign agent for Turkey.

ADVERTISING

But Sullivan wasn't done. He told Flynn his crime—lying to federal agents while sitting in the White House—was a "serious offense" and that he could not say what penalty he would impose.

Then he asked Mueller's prosecutor, Brandon Van Grack, if Flynn's actions rose to the level of treason.

"In terms of evidence, treason is not something we have considered," Van Grack said.

The judge then asked if a charge of treason could have been considered. After a long pause, Van Grack said he would not answer the hypothetical question.

Flynn—who led chants of "Lock Her Up!" against Hillary Clinton at the Republican National Convention—faces up to six months in prison on the lying charge.

The sentence capped a flurry of court filings from Mueller's team and the defense that laid bare friction between the two camps. In the latest salvo, late Monday night, prosecutors released the notes from the FBI's interview with Flynn that showed the breadth of his lies to the agents.

Hours before the sentencing, Trump posted a "good luck" message to Flynn on Twitter.

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn. Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!

54.6K

6:41 AM - Dec 18, 2018

Twitter Ads info and privacy

32.8K people are talking about this

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Flynn pleaded guilty just over a year ago to making false statements to federal investigators about his contacts with Russian officials and his work on behalf of the Turkish government, which he called in court papers "a serious error in judgement."

As part of his deal with Mueller, he sat for almost 63 hours of interviews and turned over thousands of documents, his lawyers noted in a sentencing memo. Flynn also met with other Justice Department officials conducting separate investigations.

The special counsel is keeping the specifics of the information Flynn provided under wraps—although a former business partner was indicted Monday on charges of lying about acting as a foreign agent for Turkey. Other details have been heavily redacted in court papers.

• CATCHING A BREAK

  Mueller Goes Easy on Michael Flynn for Spilling the Beans

  Adam Rawnsley

  

Flynn served as Trump's national security adviser for just 24 days before he was pushed out, but he previously served as an adviser to the campaign and is the highest-ranking member of the administration to be charged in the Russia probe.

As Mueller's team pointed out in a court filing earlier this month, Flynn flipped soon after prosecutors approached him about a cooperation agreement. "The defendant deserves credit for accepting responsibility in a timely fashion and substantially assisting the government," they wrote to the judge, asking for a lenient sentence.

Flynn also touted his cooperation. Defense attorneys wrote in their sentencing memo: "Having made a serious error in judgment, for which he has shown true contrition, he recognized it was consistent with the values by which he has led his life simply to provide the facts to those charged with enforcing our laws."

The ever-outspoken military veteran couldn't help taking a dig at the FBI, however, suggesting he had been duped into a perjury trap by FBI officials with their own baggage—namely deputy director Andrew McCabe, who was accused of leaks, and agent Peter Strzok, who was fired over texts that criticized Trump.

"Even when circumstances later came to light that prompted extensive public debate about the investigation of General Flynn, including revelations that certain FBI officials involved in the January 24 interview of General Flynn were themselves being investigated for misconduct, General Flynn did not back away from accepting responsibility for his actions," the defense attorneys wrote.

That clearly annoyed Mueller's team, who retorted that Flynn had no one to blame but himself, noting that he lied to the White House weeks before he spoke to the FBI agents.

"Nothing about the way the interview was arranged or conducted caused the defendant to make false statements to the FBI on January 24," the prosecutors wrote. "The Court should reject the defendant's attempt to minimize the seriousness of those false statements to the FBI."

On the eve of the sentencing, prosecutors filed a redacted version of the FBI notes of their interview with Flynn that detailed the various lies he told about his contacts with then-Russian ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak.

Moses Ocen Nekyon

Democracy is two Wolves and a Lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed Lamb disputing the results.

Benjamin Franklin

--
Disclaimer:Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com