One of the latest bits of fake news, all over the MSM, is that the judge accused Michael Flynn of treason. Of course this is to taint Trump by association.


Michael Flynn’s Sentencing Postponed, Judge Backs Off ‘Treason’ Questions
18 Dec 2018

Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn will reschedule the sentencing hearing for his guilty plea on lying to the FBI — an unexpected turn in Tuesday’s lively court proceedings which saw a D.C. circuit judge accusing Flynn of selling out his country — then denying that his line of questions to Special Counsel prosecutors were accusations of “treason.”

Judge Emmet G. Sullivan set a status hearing for March 13 after Flynn’s lawyer Robert Kelner requested the delay.

The request is a clear reversal from Flynn and Kelner’s resigned compliance as the hearing kicked off at 11:30 AM. Sullivan asked whether the retired Army Lt. General wanted a sentencing delay to possibly reverse his plea and fight the process crime charges from Robert Mueller’s prosecutors.

Flynn and Kelner initially responded no — that Gen. Flynn was not entrapped by disgraced former FBI agent Peter Strzok, who interviewed him with another agent in January 2017, and that he understood that false statements to the FBI could be used against him, even though he met the two agents without legal representation.

After this exchange, Judge Sullivan tore into Flynn, calling the charges a “serious offense” and attacking the former Trump official for his work as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of the Islamist state of Turkey. “Arguably, you sold your country out,” Sullivan fumed.

Progressive pundits’ ears perked up even more when Judge Sullivan asked a Special Counsel prosecutor whether the government believed that his actions rose “to the level of treasonous activity.” When the respondent demurred, Sullivan probed further, asking whether Flynn could have been charged with treason under the Logan Act. Again, the prosecutor would not say.

Soon after the judge broached the topic of “treason,” Flynn requested a recess to have time to confer with his counsel.

When the court hearing resumed, Sullivan emphatically denied the obvious implication of his “treason” questions, perhaps aware that the comments spread like wildfire on social media. “I felt terrible about that,” he said, noting that Flynn’s activity as a foreign agent ended in November 2016 and is thus not directly related to the charges of making false statements two months later.

“Don’t read too much into the questions I asked,” Sullivan continued. “I wasn’t suggesting he was committing treason. I was just curious if he could have been charged. Lots of conspiracy theories out there.”

Kelner followed the judge’s backtrack with a request to delay Flynn’s sentencing, citing his probable testimony in the prosecution of two former associates allegedly involved in his Turkey lobbying efforts. The defense lawyer argued Flynn may be able to “eke out” one last bit of cooperation with the feds before his final sentencing.

“He has held nothing back,” Kelner said. The FARA investigation “is the only area in which there is anything left to give,” he added.

Flynn reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in December 2017, admitting he gave false statements to FBI agents and pledging to testify for the Special Counsel — which was set up ostensibly to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Flynn’s purported false statements were about a phone conversation with Russian ambassador Sergey Kisleyak during Trump’s transition process. Mueller’s prosecutors recommended no jail time for the general, citing his “substantial assistance” to investigators.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/...ason-questions/

Hans von Spakovsky: FBI Used ‘Electronic Eavesdropping’ Against Mike Flynn, ‘Entrapment of the Worst Kind’
18 Dec 2018

Hans von Spakovsky, a Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow, explained how the FBI used “entrapment” by way of electronic surveillance against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. He offered his remarks in a Tuesday interview with Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily.

Von Spakovsky said, “The entire basis of the claim against Flynn is that he supposedly lied to FBI agents who were sent to the White House without following the usual procedures — Comey now admits — to interview him about telephone conversations he had with the Russian ambassador.”

Von Spakovsky added, “Here’s the thing for everyone to understand why this is so outrageous. There was no reason for FBI agents to be talking to Flynn and asking him about that telephone conservation. Why? Because the underlying conduct was perfectly legal. There was nothing unlawful about it. In fact, he was the incoming national security advisor, and it’s typical of individuals coming in in a new administration — whether it’s a Democratic or a Republican one — those who are tasked with foreign policy issues to be talking to foreign diplomats about what the foreign policy is going to be in that incoming administration.”

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Von Spakovsky concluded, “So there was no reason for the FBI agents to be there interviewing him about this unless, because they knew, they had a transcript already of those conversations because of electronic eavesdropping. They wanted to somehow try to push him into somehow misremembering so they could bring this kind of charge against him. I think it was entrapment of the worst kind.”

Fllynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations he had with Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, while he was on Donald Trump’s presidential transition team. Von Spakovsky wrote of Flynn’s communications with Kislyak: “There is nothing unusual about members of a presidential transition team talking with foreign diplomats about the foreign policy concerns of an incoming administration,” adding, “Some have tried to claim that Flynn’s conversations were illegal under the Logan Act of 1799, (18 U.S.C. §953), which tries to prohibit discussions between Americans and foreign officials. But no one has ever been prosecuted under that act.”

Von Spakovsky also asked, “How did the U.S. government know about the content of those telephone conversations? By electronic eavesdropping, which raises many unanswered questions about the propriety of a law enforcement agency listening to calls involving a presidential transition team.”

Last week, Flynn claimed via his legal team that he was advised by then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe against having legal counsel present while being questioned by FBI agents. Fox News reported, “Attorneys for former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn alleged that … Andrew McCabe pushed Flynn not to have an attorney present during the questioning that ultimately led to his guilty plea on a single charge of lying to federal authorities. The document outlines, with striking new details, the rapid sequence of events that led to Flynn’s sudden fall from the Trump administration. The filing also seemingly demonstrates that the FBI took a significantly more aggressive tack in handling the Flynn interview than it did during other similar matters, including the agency’s sit-downs with Hillary Clinton and ex-Trump adviser George Papadopoulos.”

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PoliticsRadioAlex MarlowAndrew McCabeBreitbart News DailyLogan ActMichael FlynnRobert MuellerRussia probesergey kislyakspecial counsel


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