Michael Flynn Sentencing Postponed
Federal Judge Accepts Flynn’s Guilty Plea
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Former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s sentencing hearing ended early this afternoon. Judge Sullivan repeatedly asked Flynn if he’d like to postpone sentencing, an offer he declined several times. Sentencing was recessed until 12:30 to give attorneys an opportunity to discuss postponement, an offer which they accepted.
Sentencing Postponed
BREAKING NEWS: Flynn sentencing has been postponed. A joint status report is due March 13 to Judge Sullivan.
— Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) December 18, 2018
From the hearing
Judge Sullivan asking Flynn whether he wants to change his guilty plea in light of 302s and other new info. He has declined.
— Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan offers Flynn a chance to postpone this sentencing hearing to rethink his guilty plea. Flynn replies, "“I appreciate that, but no your honor.”
— Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan said he had some "concerns" based on Flynn's pre-sentencing filing. ”I cannot recall any incident in which the court has accepted a plea of guilty from someone who maintained he was not guilty and I don’t intend to start today.”
— Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan once again runs through with Flynn whether he wants to w/d his guilty plea. Again, Flynn says, "I would like to proceed your honor." And the judge announces he'll accept the plea.
— Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) December 18, 2018
“This is a very serious offense,” Judge Sullivan said, noting Flynn’s crime involved a high-ranking official of the government making false statements to the FBI “while on the physical premise of the White House.”
— Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan again offering Flynn a chance to push off today's sentencing until his cooperation is over. “Do you want to postpone this and come back at some later point and I don’t know what that point will be. That’s fine with me.”
— Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan: "All along you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the national security adviser of the president of the United States. … Arguably that undermines everything that flag over here stands for. Arguably, you sold your country out."
— Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) December 18, 2018
Judge Sullivan asks Mueller prosecutors if Flynn could have been indicted for treason. Van Grack replies, "That was not something we were considering at the time, charging the defendant."
— Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) December 18, 2018
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Comments
So the judge is all but begging Flynn to withdraw his plea because its laughably obvious he’d never be convicted.
I have no idea who Flynn’s lawyer is though all of this, but Flynn should have fired him long ago because he’s giving him TERRIBLE advice.
He cannot withdraw the plea because he is being blackmailed by Mueller. They have something on his kids.
The judge is wrong on several counts… about treason with Flynn.. since he was NOT a government employee at time but looks like the Judge used the CNN Cliff notes for his deliberation.
Could it be because he thinks POTUS will pardon him?
Could be that if the charges are thrown out, he’ll be charged for his Turkish connections, as a couple of associates have been.
A terrible day for Trump on several fronts. Flynn refused to change his plea. Judge asked him more than once. What does Mueller have on him?
Then judge suggests Flynn may have committed TREASON (!!) since he was an unregistered whatever for Turkey while he was NS advisor? Huh? This came out of nowhere.
Is judge angry because Flynn refused his chance to change his plea, thereby (correct me if I’m wrong) forcing the judge to go along with Mueller and not throw out the conviction?
Or was judge all along going to go for his head?
It may be the Turkey thing is what really killed Flynn. There may also be more here we don’t know, as Flynn’s refusal to change his plea–unless even that was a trap–tells me he put his personal interest, however understandable,above that of the nation.
Right now, I’m not giving Flynn high marks for brains, or courage for that matter.
Deep State hit a 400 footer over the Green Monster today.
This does not make me happy.
Add in wall cave-in, Trump foundation dissolving, rolling over on the NYC lawsuit. Bad day at Black Rock.
Make that 500 footer.
Remind me what this had to do with Russia again genius?
Yet another process crime eh. Funny how this is all only going in one direction isn’t it.
Flynn will be pardoned and history will not judge all those involved in this farce well.
Mailman, Agreed, this has/had nothing to do with Russian collusion, which as far as I know, is a completely fraudulent Snipe Hunt generated by HRC & her progressive- totalitarian minions.
But: Mueller keeps going and going. DOJ & FBI, where dozens of corrupt overlords should actually be in a Gulag, well. They keep going and going.
Trump is all by himself. And so far, please correct me if I’m wrong, the Deep State is mopping the floor with him.
It’s not about collusion & never was.
It’s about winning and losing.
I just can’t say our side is winning.
But fill me in if you think otherwise.
Monty Python was correct.
“Nobody ever expects the Spanish Inquisition!”
“… please correct me if I’m wrong, the Deep State is mopping the floor with him.”
OK, you’re wrong.
Donald Trump is the President of the United States. As long as he is, it’s false to claim that the Deep State is even winning, let alone “mopping the floor with him.”
LTG Flynn has nor been sentenced. As long as he’s not in prison the Deep State hasn’t won (though they may yet win and I don’t like the way this is going.)
What happened today is that the Trump team (including the guy with the one-letter name) has gained a thirty-day delay in which to show/persuade the American people how dreadfully bad things are.
Flynn wants this over because it financially broke him. He could have been convicted on the Turkish matter, which is going away too. It was a set up, but Flynn walked into a trap he never should have exposed himself in the first place.
As far as wall funding, I suspect Republicans told Trump they will get him the 5 billion if he doesn’t do the shut down. $5 billion they could probably find in couch cushions in the Senate cloak room.
Mueller threatened to go after Flynn’s son, thats why he is keeping to the plea. Also the judge admitted he was wrong, that Flynn’s work for Turkey ended before he took the NSA.
Right. Judge corrected himself. He made a big mistake. Guess he’s not much of a detail guy. Confusing the dates was mighty careless.
Bandying about questions of treason is more than mighty careless.
Why wouldn’t you change your plea when the judge offers the chance to do that time and time again?
Mueller must have really done a number on him and the impact this will have on his family???
Mailman, you fall on your sword to protect the ones you love…..
And sometimes, you just want it to be over.
Flynn has no choice. Yesterday Mueller charges two of Flynn’s associates. It was a cannon shot across Flynn’s bow and Flynn knows Mueller and his ilk will go after Flynn’s family and friends. There is no stopping Mueller and just as he has paid no rice for his past prosecutions he kno he holds all the power. The e St is out of control.
A terrible day for Trump on several fronts. Flynn refused to change his plea. Judge asked him more than once. What does Mueller have on him?
His son, not him, methinks.
This is likely why Flynn declined to change his plea …
https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/08/politics/michael-flynn-son-special-counsel-russia-investigation/index.html
Apparently the Judge postponed the sentencing because he wanted Flynn to cooperate more with Mueller threatening to not accepte the 3 year plea by adding more on
And Flynn apparently is going to do this
OMG
It could be my wishful thinking, but is seems the Judge is giving Flynn time. Thinking that Mueller has to wrap things up soon and disband. Then Flynn can withdraw his plea. Free from retribution from Mueller.
The judge’s comments today were out of line, and in some cases misinformed, especially concerning treason. He may have an intense dislike for Flynn, but this is not professional conduct. He also failed to recognize the inconsistencies in the FBIs 302 form, and should have insisted upon hearing from the agent who took the original notes and wrote the original 302, and not accepted a heavily revised copy prepared many months after the fact by people known to have issues with “candor.”
Flynn was a private citizen at time he was accused of “treason”…. not a government official. All of the Dems who did the same thing were allowed to “cure” the error.
Hey Judge, If you are going to accuse a former National Security Advisor and 33 year distinguished Veteran of being an unregistered agent for a foreign government while in his position in the White House, and, also, actually strongly insinuating that Flynn is a traitor, at least read the file first, you lazy, ignorant bum. In a case that is in the national eye, no less! Resign, you disgrace. Just because your (probably exasperated) clerk straightened you out when you left the bench, that doesn’t make it ok. Resign, you bum.
All along you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the national security adviser of the president of the United States.
Actually, this is kind of a big deal.
The first thing I thought of when I read that was General James Wilkinson. He alerted President Jefferson that Aaron Burr was up to some major funny business. But in the subsequent trial, it was impossible to convict Burr because treason requires witnesses, and the most important witness was Wilkinson himself—a man known to be in the pay of Spain. His testimony was therefore considered worthless. (Burr had talked Jefferson into appointing Wilkinson the governor of the new Louisiana Territory, among other things . . . the whole thing was quite a mess, and the Spanish connection certainly didn’t make it any better.)
If the Judge is up on this stuff, and he sounds like the sort who might be, I can see why he detects a strong whiff of stink about foreign connections for American military and government personnel.
After the recess the judge tried to walk his treason comments back (probably realizing he’d gone too far and didn’t have his facts straight) — “Don’t read too much into the questions I asked. I’m not suggesting he committed treason.” But it was too late….. the MSM was already running with it.
Agent of a foreign power… Logan Act… fine.. but how many recent Dems did the same and are not perp walked?
I don’t bother counting them anymore.
I’ve done a lot of reading about what happened today, and a lot of thinking about this case in general. Even though the conduct of the FBI/ Mueller SC team is far from ideal, no case can be made that Flynn is innocent of lying to the FBI without finding him to be a perjurer to the court. And, even if the foreign agent registration act business – which is beyond the judge’s jurisdiction – is why Flynn buckled, I mean, what’s the best case scenario? Flynn was a willing participant in a fraud upon the court, and then tried to wiggle out while protecting his own rear?
The only mercy Flynn was going to get was for the judge to accept the deal, ugly as it looks, and to let Flynn’s cooperation keep Mueller at bay. And if Flynn doesn’t like it, he can try (and fail) to prove his innocence and face the maximum for every charge.
One of today’s best takes on this hearing was on the first 20 mins of Mark Levin’s radio show.
I’m not opposed to seeing rules enforced. I’m really effing annoyed that from 2008 to 2016, the calories currently spent chasing “crimes” by POTUS staff were spent willfully ignoring the crimes of POTUS staff.
I don’t want a pass for Trump’s guys, I want an equal application of the law.
Consider this: Flynn’s behavior matches exactly against somebody who has been threatened successfully. He is clinging to his guilty plea, not admitting to anything else or denying any part of it. Why would he do this? Easy. If Mueller wanted to, he could simply claim that everything Flynn told the investigators was false, withdraw the plea agreement, and prosecute him for everything he’s been charged with so far, PLUS all of the things his Turkish associates have been charged with, PLUS prosecute his son. Innocent or not, he would go to jail, so would his son, his wife would be left destitute, etc… It is entirely possible that Flynn has been told that if he objects in any fashion to the guilty plea, the hammer would come down and destroy his family.
The unrestrained power of a prosecutor can be a terrible thing for the guilty or innocent.
“Flynn’s behavior matches exactly against somebody who has been threatened successfully.”
Exactly. Most likely it is a normal wrist slap process crime that can be more at the discretion of federal prosecutors. Must not be too bad or they would have gone after him/son for it, so it’s minor unless the feds decide it’s not. They are holding it over Flynn. This much seems clear.
In reading the interchange between the judge and Flynn, his lawyers, and Mueller’s people, it seems clear that the judge knows something bad is going on. He even tried to intimidate Flynn into speaking out with the truth but could not and the judge is now angry at what is transparently occurring.
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If you read comments about Flynn from his contemporaries, you get a picture of the ultimate team player who knows sacrifice and is more than willing to do what it takes to protect those around him. Earlier there was a report that Mueller had dirt on Flynn’s son and threatened to bankrupt Flynn and destroy his family unless Flynn complied. This now sound so true (especially given Mueller’s past behavior) that Flynn is clearly taking one to protect his family. It is also clear the judge knows this, but his hands are tied unless Flynn will speak out. How else can you explain yet another delay in this endless loop of delay followed by delay in the sentencing of Flynn?
This is a legal question for the attorneys out there…
Are the Judges hands really tied?
Does he really need the cooperation of Flynn to throw this out and go after the Special Counsel for misconduct?
And if he does have that power is it possible that the Judge has something in his past that he fears would be exposed by Mueller?
Thanks for the down vote for asking a question…maybe correct me if I said something wrong!