An experienced prosecutor always protects his case from preventable errors that can get a conviction reversed on appeal. Van Grack didn’t know enough to do that. //
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skeptic62
an hour ago
The Flynn prosecutors did not care that a conviction would easily be overturned; that would only happen years after Trump had been removed from office.
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Static21 skeptic62
14 minutes ago
I agree. The whole purpose was to keep Flynn under wraps as to not let him talk on any of Obama's negligence in dealing with Iran & the total defeat of ISIS, which anyone w/ a brain knows that is not the case. Its been said many times with Flynn being the head of DIA, he definitely knows where all Obama's bodies are buried.
Consider the effort made by Judge Gleeson to insist that Ammidown pretty much decides all questions with respect to the question on which Judge Sullivan’s authority rests.
But how badly reasoned and constructed the Ammidown decision actually is as a piece of legal work leads to the conclusion that Ammidown is the basis upon which Judge Sullivan’s authority “Rests in Peace.”
I’ll start with a “brief” primer on the case so far, and a short introduction into a key issue raised by the Government brief. //
The Department of Justice filed an Appellate Brief in support of the Petition for Writ of Mandamus filed by General Flynn on the same day that Judge Sullivan filed his response to the Circuit Court’s order that he do so. //
moving expeditiously by way of a Writ avoids “an unwarranted impairment” by Judge Sullivan of the Executive Branch’s “performance of its constitutional duties.”
At its core what this argument advances is the idea that when the Executive Branch, while executing its constitutional duties to see that that the laws are faithfully executed and enforced, comes across information establishing that an ongoing enforcement action is mistaken or amounts to an injustice, the Executive must move with all due haste to bring the enforcement action to an end.
The Justice Department has taken a position in a legal filing with the Judicial branch that it is no longer convinced that Gen. Flynn committed a crime, and it is certain that it would not be able to prove any such crime beyond a reasonable doubt if it attempted to do so in a trial.
Yet based on Justice Department conduct up to the date of that determination, Gen. Flynn remains a defendant in a criminal case pending in United States District Court. As such, the Justice Department has an ethical obligation – and an obligation under its own internal policies (explained later) – to move without delay to bring an end to that pending matter.
What Judge Sullivan proposes to do is an “unwarranted impairment” of the Executive Branch’s effort to fulfill its constitutional obligations to Gen. Flynn. //
The course of action proposed by Judge Sullivan is unwarranted in terms of the substance, that the process he proposes to follow is an interference with Executive branch functions in violation of the Separation of Powers doctrine.
Give us our $40 million back and investigate everyone involved in this... //
The summaries and transcripts of Gen. Michael Flynn’s Dec. 29, 2012 phone call with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak was released on Friday, along with transcripts of a few other calls between the two.
The Dec. 29 call was the supposed predicate for going after Flynn and interviewing him.
But as the transcripts show, there was nothing questionable about the call, there was no discussion of lifting or undermining sanctions as was claimed by some, there was nothing said that justified a criminal investigation into Flynn. That call and the subsequent calls involved normal discussion about setting up contacts as the incoming NSA, discussion about the Middle East and the “common enemy” – ISIS in Syria and had a discussion about the expulsions of Russian diplomats.
The reaction from folks on the right was swift and infuriated that this should have resulted in the prosecution of a man with such a decorated career, apparently all in the interests of taking him down and trying to undermine the Trump administration. //
Sean Davis
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@seanmdav
The Flynn-Kislyak call transcripts exonerate Flynn and indict Mueller for deceitful sleight-of-hand meant to obscure the truth. There's a reason Mueller refused to turn the transcripts over to Flynn's defense team. https://thefederalist.com/2020/05/29/declassified-flynn-transcripts-contradict-key-mueller-claims-against-flynn/ … //
That didn’t stop House Intel Chair Adam Schiff his best to spin the transcripts, as they have been spinning and lying the last three years.
Kyle Griffin
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@kylegriffin1
Schiff: "These transcripts fully affirm what we already knew from Flynn’s Statement of Offense ... that Flynn in fact lied about his interactions with the Russian Ambassador. It should be no surprise that the President and his allies wish to promote conspiracy theories." https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1266490850646749184 …
Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe listens on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, May 11, 2017, while testifying before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on major threats facing the U.S. President Donald Trump is considering nearly a dozen candidates to succeed ousted FBI Director James Comey, choosing from a group that includes several lawmakers, attorneys and law enforcement officials. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Over at UncoverDC I | <a class="moretext" href="https://www.redstate.com/shipwreckedcrew/2020/06/05/andrew-mccabe-is-a-liar-and-the-media-is-a-willful-collaborator/">Read More »</a>
Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, leaves the federal court following a status conference with Judge Emmet Sullivan, in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) Yesterday the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued an Order setting oral argument on the Petition for Mandamus filed by Gen. Michael Flynn, seeking to have the Circuit Court “mandate” | <a class="moretext" href="https://www.redstate.com/shipwreckedcrew/2020/06/05/dc-circuit-court-does-judge-sullivan-no-favors-in-order-setting-oral-argument/">Read More »</a>
'I See Nothing, I Hear Nothing.'
I tweeted yesterday that I was going to try to resist the urge to blast out “hot takes” on the submission by Judge Sullivan in response to the Circuit Court’s Order connected to Gen. Flynn’s Petition for a Writ of Mandamus. I did post a few thoughts as I made my way through the document, and later I gave my “30,000 foot” view of the filing.
The games continue.
The newly released transcripts should cause Judge Emmet Sullivan to realize the error of his way and immediately dismiss the charges against Michael Flynn. //
The transcripts released Friday make clear that Flynn’s only request to Kislyak concerned the expulsion of the Russian diplomats and not the sanctions instituted by then-President Obama’s executive order. Yet Mueller’s team charged Flynn with lying to the FBI about his discussion with Kislyak about sanctions. //
Not only did the special counsel’s office and then Van Grack, a holdover from the Mueller team, misrepresent to the federal court the substance of Flynn’s conversation with Kislyak, the special counsel repeated these lies to the American public.
Declassified Flynn transcripts released on Friday contradict key claims made against Flynn by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
This just adds more weight to show how unfairly targeted he was... //
There was nothing that even remotely invoked the Logan Act. There was absolutely no criminal predicate to justify the interview or position they subsequently took on Flynn. Certainly not compared to the things the Obama officials like John Kerry have done since with Iran. This just adds further that this was all a frame-up to take out Flynn, as well as tar and harm the Trump administration.
No discussion of undermining sanctions, a false claim trotted out by those on the left.
Once again, declassification blows up all the lies spread by Democrats for the last three years.
Having already taken several unusual steps, the court must follow the rule of law.
The questions press secretary Kayleigh McEnany raised demand answers — answers that journalists absolutely refuse to dig up.
Prosecutor who recently resigned from Roger Stone case signed court filings omitting evidence of witness cooperation
Undercover Huber @JohnWHuber
· May 24, 2020
CONCLUSION (1/6)
Papadopoulos was charged with §1001 false statements because he got a date wrong about when he met Mifsud, and §1519 destruction/obstruction because he got a new Facebook account (and a new cellphone.)
CONCLUSION (2/6)
Clinesmith appears to have conspired to lie to the FISA court, and destroyed/concealed a federal document under color of authority with an FBI badge, and he hasn't been charged with anything
CONCLUSION (3/6)
That's the very definition of a two tiered system of Justice.
CONCLUSION (4/6)
What's worse is that Clinesmith was part of the same SCO team that prosecuted Papadopoulos for a §1519 obstructive alteration crime he appears to have already committed himself only a month beforehand, while he was "primary FBI Attorney" on Crossfire Hurricane
CONCLUSION (5/6)
Is there a greater prosecutorial malevolence than charging someone with a crime when you surely know that they're innocent of it, and when you also know you've committed that exact same crime yourself? This belongs in an episode of The Shield with Vic Mackey
CONCLUSION (6/6)
US Attorney John Durham and AG Bill Barr now have to decide if they're going to hold anyone accountable for any of this.
And the media need to decide if they’re going to keep pretending none of this happened.
/ENDS
CNN's senior media reporter condemned Fox News on Tuesday for giving airtime to one of the nation's preeminent experts on the Russia hoax. //
“In what right mind is any scandal, any political scandal, any Department of Justice story more important to ask the president about than the pandemic that’s raging?” Stelter demanded to know. “Ultimately it’s about news judgement, it’s about lack of judgement, but I find it befuddling.”
Clearly missing the irony here, Stelter might find his own work befuddling with a quick look into the past. Good judgement here.
Free Beacon
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@FreeBeacon
Projection: CNN’s @brianstelter Accuses Conservative Media of ‘Obsession’ With Russia Probe https://freebeacon.com/media/projection-cnns-stelter-accuses-conservative-media-of-obsession-with-russia-probe/ … //
If Darcy wants to evaluate “straight news,” he may want to look at his own network’s blindspots first. The following stories might have met Stelter’s high bar for quality journalism:
Sean Davis
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@seanmdav
CNN Producer Fesses Up: We're Just Doing The Russia Stuff For Ratings https://thefederalist.com/2017/06/27/cnn-producer-fesses-just-russia-stuff-ratings/#.XrtYhsbKY9Q.twitter …
CNN Producer Fesses Up: We're Just Doing The Russia Stuff For Ratings
In a new undercover video, a CNN producer is caught on tape admitting that CNN's obsessions with Donald Trump and Russia is because of ratings.
thefederalist.com
FBI Inspectors Often Go "Trophy Hunting" And Usually Come Back With Who They Were Looking For
The point of all this was politics, not national security.
Well, the mystery is solved, at least if you can believe what the usual sieves — those courageously anonymous “former U.S. officials” — have told their notetakers at the Washington Post. As I surmised in last weekend’s column, Michael Flynn was not “unmasked” in connection with his controversial phone call with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. He was never masked in the first place. The Post reported that on Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Post is leading the media–Democrat effort to contort the fact that many Republicans were wrong in assuming Flynn had been unmasked prior to his name’s being leaked to the Post in early 2017 into a storyline that those Republicans must have been wrong to claim the leak was illegal. To the contrary, the leak is a felony, regardless of whether an American’s identity should have been concealed. Information collected under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is classified. The point of classifying information is to keep all of it concealed, not just the names. //
Alas, in this as in so much else throughout the Trump–Russia farce, the Bureau played fast and loose with the rules. When investigators are so inclined, it turns out the privacy vouchsafed by the minimization rules is illusory. FBI officials — if they thought about it at all — figured Flynn need not be masked because they did not see him as an innocent American incidentally caught up in foreign surveillance. They purported to suspect that he was a clandestine agent of Russia. //
Of course, they had no proof of that. And they knew they had no proof. That’s why they never sought a FISA-court warrant targeting Flynn. Doing so would have required showing probable cause that he was an operative of Russia; and as to Flynn, they didn’t even have a fabulist “dossier” to rely on for such a smear. //
We’re being had.
Here’s a more plausible explanation of motive. The Obama administration was actively constructing the Trump–Russia collusion narrative. Obama officials saw Putin’s “no retaliation” pose as an opportunity to float the fiction that the Kremlin had cut a sinister deal with Trump to gut Obama’s sanctions as a reward for Russia’s hacking of Democrats during the campaign. Obama officials and the FBI hoped to conceal the Trump–Russia investigation from the incoming Trump administration for as long as possible, and to continue the investigation of Trump’s campaign — remember, by December 29, they had already gotten a FISA warrant based on the representation that Trump’s campaign had conspired with the Kremlin, and they were preparing to reaffirm that claim in order to get a second 90-day warrant (the second of what would eventually be four). //
On close reading, though, our intelligence agencies reserve the discretion to unmask pretty much whenever they wish. For all the talk, talk, talk about privacy, the pamphlet explains:
It's not just because he farted on national television. //
Rep. Eric Swalwell
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@RepSwalwell
Slight correction on your tweet: I trust FBI & Director Wray. I don’t trust @ODNIgov Directors @RichardGrenell or @RepRatcliffe. They’re the ones with the shovels burying evidence to protect @realDonaldTrump. https://twitter.com/noahshachtman/status/1263855239628648449 …
Richard Grenell
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@RichardGrenell
I’m letting the public see more info. You are the one who worked to hide the information you didn’t like. You listened to multiple people in classified hearings say they had no evidence and yet go on TV and say the opposite. Transparency is now a must! https://twitter.com/repswalwell/status/1263860933081870338 …
Rep. Eric Swalwell
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@RepSwalwell
Thanks for showing up on Twitter. You never once came to brief the Intel Committee (First DNI Director who failed to do so). If you have nothing to hide, why don’t you release Flynn’s call with Russia? #ShowUsTheTape https://twitter.com/richardgrenell/status/1263863419071090691 …
Richard Grenell
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@RichardGrenell
Those are coming. It’s very important for the public to see ALL of them. For too long the public has been misled. Just compare your committee’s transcripts to your public statements! #troubling https://twitter.com/repswalwell/status/1263865225973030912 …