Yesterday in “Flynn’s fate (3)” I posted the sentencing memo filed by General Flynn’s attorneys and concluded with a question: Will we ever get to the bottom of this story? Today’s Wall Street Journal carries a good editorial — “The Flynn entrapment” — that I believe to be by Kim Strassel. The editorial draws out the story implicit in Flynn’s sentencing memo and related evidence.
Flynn’s case is pending before DC District Judge Emmet Sullivan. He may have a question akin to my own. He wants to know more. Based on Flynn’s sentencing memo, Judge Sullivan has entered an order. As Techno Fog notes in the tweet below, Judge Sullivan has now ordered the parties to file ALL FBI 302 forms and the Special Counsel is ordered to file its reply to Flynn’s sentencing memo by tomorrow. The Daily Caller’s Chuck Ross notes this development and provides background here.
New Court Order in the Flynn case (12/12/2018):
1) The parties are ordered to file ALL FBI 302 forms.
2) The Special Counsel is ordered to file its reply to Flynn's sentencing memo by 12/14/2018.
Very interesting. pic.twitter.com/QUovUQOUQp
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) December 12, 2018
Mr. Fog emailed us four related comments that I set forth below as bullet points:
• The August 22, 2017 FBI 302 was likely edited/revised/amended after Mueller had sufficient leverage to pressure Flynn to plea. Originals likely deleted – DoJ has a history of that. Here the timeline becomes important: Rosenstein sent out the new scope memo on August 2, 2017. This gave Mueller increased authority – including the authority to go after FARA violations. That’s why you see Flynn’s work for Turkey mentioned in the Special Counsel’s sentencing memo. The unregistered work for Turkey, which until the appointment of Mueller was never prosecuted, could have sent Flynn to jail for years. The Special Counsel is adept at turning a simple FARA violation into money laundering, conspiracy against the US, etc. Just see the Manafort DC case. Tweets/threads here and here can elaborate and just filed: Judge Sullivan will have access to the 302s (per the tweet above).
• Without the leverage from the Foreign Agent Registration Act violations, Flynn COULD NOT have been prosecuted for giving false statements. Strzok, the interviewing agent, had been removed from the Special Counsel’s team. But most importantly, we have this McCabe quote: “the two people who interviewed [Flynn] didn’t think he was lying, [which] was not [a] great beginning of a false statement case.” Corresponding tweet with source material here.
• Julie Kelly asks if the leakers will ever be prosecuted. Speculation is that McCabe was involved. Sessions announced he was overseeing the probe of the Flynn leak on February 18, 2018, stating they were “pursuing it aggressively.” The McCabe grand jury has been going on for months. If he was only being investigated for his lies about his Clinton leaks – it wouldn’t take that long. See here.
• However, consider the timing and have the assumption (well-deserved) that the DoJ is acting in bad faith. The DC office won’t do anything to undermine the Special Counsel’s case against Flynn. If it is McCabe and they choose to prosecute, they can’t make the announcement until after Flynn is sentenced. Otherwise there’s the serious possibility that Judge Sullivan would throw it all out – not considering the public relations nightmare if the plea deal stands.
More to come, we hope.
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