Mueller recommends leniency for Flynn's 'substantial' help
Special counsel recommends no jail time for the former Trump staffer after citing 'substantial assistance' in the Russia probe; John Roberts reports from the White House on the reaction from the Trump administration.
Former National Security Adviser, retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn is and always has been a man of character and integrity.
With the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s sentencing memorandum, Flynn’s forthrightness shines through. Many will interpret this to mean he has turned on President Trump. I don’t believe that is the case at all.
Having served with Flynn both on and off the battlefield, I know that he is a patriot and a public servant. In fact, in the memo, Mueller praises Flynn for acting swiftly and substantially to assist the special counsel’s office. He did so, I suspect because he saw it as his duty to our nation.
In the same way, he saw it as his duty as a member of the Trump transition team to coordinate not only with the Russian ambassador but dozens of other ambassadors as well, so that on inauguration day the national security team could run onto the field, not walk. Given the bad hand President Obama dealt this nation in the foreign policy realm, Flynn needed as much time as possible to begin establishing relationships and righting the ship.
It goes without saying that if it weren’t for President Obama’s well laid “Russia trap” and his illegal unmasking of American citizens, the FBI would not have known any of the information used to snare Flynn.
Yet, we are supposed to believe that Obama, who, with a wink and a nod, asked Russia to handle Syria’s chemical weapons, told Vladimir Putin (through Dmitry Medvedev) that he would "have more flexibility" after his election, and failed to respond to Russia's annexation of Crimea, suddenly got religion after the 2016 election?
No. Obama and team went to work immediately to undermine the Trump transition team and disrupt the peaceful transition of democracy. The false Russia narrative and the corroborating mainstream media's full-court press that it was “illegal” to talk to Russians and, by extension, to anyone else, were ruses intended to stymie the transition.
What was Flynn supposed to do for three months? Sharpen pencils? Having served our nation in uniform for 28 years, much overseas, I know that when working with other countries, relationships are everything. Flynn knows this as well, having had boots on the ground in several hostile nations around the world.
Obama’s decision to spy on the Trump campaign tells us all we need to know about the Democrats’ acceptance of the election results and adherence to an orderly transition of power.
The fact is that the Democrats still haven’t let go, and the magnitude of accomplishments the Trump administration has achieved in the face of these headwinds is amazing.
And yet Obama’s trap grinds on and Flynn’s long-awaited sentencing memo shows the frailty of Mueller’s case.
Mueller points out that Flynn may have operated in violation of the Logan Act, which forbids U.S. citizens from conducting shadow foreign policy in contravention to existing policy. If that’s the case, I’m sure the Department of Justice will be hauling in John Kerry as soon as possible for his in-your-face meetings with Iranian and other officials last year as he tried to salvage the Iran nuclear deal.
The point is, Kerry is not going to be hauled in and it was perfectly legal for Flynn to talk to anyone in preparation for his duties as National Security Adviser.
The second item Mueller points out is Flynn’s alleged violation of the Federal Agents Registration Act (FARA), which requires U.S. citizens who represent foreign entities to declare their activities. General Flynn’s company apparently had some paperwork errors with respect to Turkey and that is enough to make him a target.
Yet, what about Department of Justice official Bruce Ohr and his emails with British citizen and spy Christopher Steele, whose deep contacts with Russia provided the very foundation for the false Russia narrative and Obama’s Russia trap? If we are interested in Russian influence, as opposed to destroying President Trump and his administration, why isn’t Mueller pursuing Ohr’s alleged malfeasance and Steele’s FARA violations? We can only hope the redactions might pertain to these serious violations.
The good news is that the Mueller team recognized Flynn’s good character, highlighted it, and asked the judge to consider his service and forthrightness when sentencing.
In the end, the judge should thank General Michael Flynn for his service to our nation and impose the very minimum sentence.
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