I wonder if Trump and Pence still want him back.
JUST IN: DOJ responds to Flynn's petition to D.C. Circuit to force Judge Sullivan to grant its motion to dismiss, arguing prosecutorial power sits solely in the executive branch and the district court has no power to embark on extensive inquiry/scrutiny/oversight. @CourthouseNews pic.twitter.com/cWZ3r9O9qg
— Megan Mineiro (@MMineiro_CNS) June 1, 2020
NEW: Judge Sullivan tells the D.C. Circuit he is not required to act as a "mere rubber stamp" in DOJ's bid to dismiss Michael Flynn's case.
— Ann Marimow (@amarimow) June 1, 2020
w/ @CarolLeonnighttps://t.co/X1xi6Lf6it
When you coddle Russia they attack again.
— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) May 31, 2020
We now know Flynn minimized the last attack on the US as “this current issue of cyber stuff” TO RUSSIA in the newly revealed transcripts.
It was collusion.
It was treasonous.
And it helped lead to this:
https://t.co/gYsYDFilxb
I know a fair number of GOP and apolitical natsec folks who worked with Flynn over the past decade, and they all offer the same narrative: a decent officer… and then something in him just snapped. https://t.co/4hJzzjhTVk
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) May 30, 2020
So I’ve read the transcripts. Tried to clear my head of my biases. And of the memory of my own interactions w, Flynn, which were positive. And @EliLake’s piece. And listened to the @lawfare podcast. And Eli, I gotta say…it’s not close. The FBI’s suspicions were warranted.
— Marc Ambinder (@marcambinder) May 30, 2020
I also think that getting fired by Obama – a completely legit shitcanning – just broke Flynn in some way, and from that point on, anyone that was against Obama was okay with him, whether it was Russians or Trump or both. But "traitor" is too big a word here, imo. https://t.co/ShUB8XVfRd
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 30, 2020
Flynn has said he does not remember talking in late 2016 with the Russian ambassador about sanctions. But the transcripts showed that the sanctions were the central discussion point between the men. https://t.co/ZlQz1QV7fd
— Adam Goldman (@adamgoldmanNYT) May 30, 2020
First principles. Whether or not Michael Flynn lied to the FBI (he did) & whether or not Bill Barr was right to kill the case (he was not), it's undeniable Flynn tried to make nice to Russia after it attacked a US election to help Trump. That's betrayal.https://t.co/rPz8ZYwOCS
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) May 30, 2020
Which just highlights how Trump has continually lied about this case. It wasn’t any American citizen that was being tapped—it was the Russians. https://t.co/tSoI3VC2MS
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) May 30, 2020
It is just impossible to read this and not believe that Flynn was acting at the direction of then president-elect Trump. https://t.co/87hmU3i7BB
— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) May 29, 2020
Honestly I think if you read these transcripts, it’s fairly obvious that Trump and Flynn had a whole ongoing series of private conversations about Russia that Flynn never disclosed in his “cooperation” with Mueller. A major, successful duping of Mueller’s team. https://t.co/43erlS2lZc
— Jesse Lee (@JesseCharlesLee) May 30, 2020
Flynn defenders: It never happened
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 29, 2020
*it happened*
It was a routine convo
*not routine*
But he didn't lie
*he lied*
But he didn't lie about sanctions
*he lied about sanctions*
We WON! Full exoneration!
For what it's worth – don't @ me, bro – I don't think Flynn was or is a traitor. I think he's an unhinged ideologue with a mania for war with Iran. He was so committed to that one thing that he really believed the Russians were his pals – even as Kislyak was rolling him.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 30, 2020
Russia had just committed cyber warfare on us and Flynn is begging their ambassador for mercy in this call. This is the weakest and most subservient thing I've ever seen from a U.S. Administration. https://t.co/WuXaIbsYVG
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) May 29, 2020
Flynn asks a hostile foreign country to work against the current administration of the United States of America. https://t.co/xNpeIqXR4C
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 29, 2020
The only thing that could be worse on these transcripts is if Flynn said "Yeah, yeah, yep" to Kislyak saying: "We'd like you to lie your ass off to everyone in DC, including in the White House, about this conversation. Can you work with us on that?"
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 30, 2020
So, aside from the fact that the former head of DIA was a security risk (not only by his sympathies for the Russians, but by lying and thus putting himself in the position of being compromised), there's the mystery of why this administration just burned their own guy. /1
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 30, 2020
Sad! 