But "When the president does it, that means it is not illegal": Trump thread LXXXVIII

[lionheart]

Flynn:

Steven Portnoy
‏*@stevenportnoy*

NOW UNDERWAY: Flynn's sentencing has begun.

Judge Emmet Sullivan who was not the judge who accepted Flynn's guilty plea says he wants to "focus on some of the issues" before he moves forward.He is NOT taking Sullivan's offer to withdraw his guilty plea.

WHOA. Judge Sullivan says the circumstances of Flynn's FBI interview, as raised by his attorneys last week, "concerned the court."

Sullivan says they raise "issues that may call into question his guilty plea."

Sullivan asks Flynn if he wishes to challenge the circumstances under which he was interviewed.

Flynn says NO.

Sullivan asks Flynn if he was aware that lying to the FBI was illegal.

"I was aware," Flynn says.

He is NOT taking Sullivan's offer to withdraw his guilty plea.

Sullivan asks if Flynn is ready to accept responsibility

"I am, your honor," Flynn answers forcefully.

Sullivan asks if Flynn would rather postpone the proceedings. He declines the offer.

Sullivan now asks Flynn's attorney if he believes his client was entrapped by the FBI.

"No, your honor," says the lawyer.

Sorry, it should actually be:

Steven Portnoy
‏*@stevenportnoy*

NOW UNDERWAY: Flynn's sentencing has begun.

Judge Emmet Sullivan who was not the judge who accepted Flynn's guilty plea says he wants to "focus on some of the issues" before he moves forward.

WHOA. Judge Sullivan says the circumstances of Flynn's FBI interview, as raised by his attorneys last week, "concerned the court."

Sullivan says they raise "issues that may call into question his guilty plea."

Sullivan asks Flynn if he wishes to challenge the circumstances under which he was interviewed.

Flynn says NO.

Sullivan asks Flynn if he was aware that lying to the FBI was illegal.

"I was aware," Flynn says.

He is NOT taking Sullivan's offer to withdraw his guilty plea.

Sullivan asks if Flynn is ready to accept responsibility

"I am, your honor," Flynn answers forcefully.

Sullivan asks if Flynn would rather postpone the proceedings. He declines the offer.

Sullivan now asks Flynn's attorney if he believes his client was entrapped by the FBI.

"No, your honor," says the lawyer.

Who is this Judge Sullivan? A rabid Trumpite?

Judge is still probing, asking Flynn's attorneys:

"My question is, how is raising those contentions about the circumstances [of the FBI interview] consistent with his acceptance of responsibility?"

Defense Attorney Robert Kelner says Flynn "fully accepts responsibility" and "stands by his guilty plea." He says he included for judge information he "might want to see" for sentencing purposes.

Saying he's "puzzled" by the documents he's seen, Sullivan makes it explicitly clear he was concerned by the circumstances of the FBI interview, but Flynn and his attorneys are repeatedly declining the judge's offers to delay or steer the proceeding off course.

Who Is Emmet Sullivan, the Judge Who Will Sentence Michael Flynn?

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan made headlines recently when he ordered the U.S. government to turn around a plane that was carrying a woman whose asylum case was still pending in court. Here's a lot more to know about the judge.

www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2018/12/17/who-is-emmet-sullivan-the-judge-who-will-sentence-michael-flynn/

Steven Portnoy
‏*@stevenportnoy*
One final time, and still sounding skeptical, Sullivan asks Flynn, "If you want to proceed because you are guilty of this offense..."

Flynn says he is, and wants to proceed.

Sullivan accepts the plea.

Steven Portnoy
‏*@stevenportnoy*
Judge Sullivan has sent Flynn and his attorneys back to their table.

He says he wants to now go over Flynn's plea agreement and the facts that went into it.

TheBeat w/Ari Melber
‏*@TheBeatWithAri*

"This is Judge Sullivan calling BS on Mike Flynn's last filing"

@AriMelber reports on Flynn sentencing on @craigmelvin

twitter.com/TheBeatWithAri/status/1075067218805837825

Spencer Hsu
@hsu_spencer
Judge Sullivan just read aloud to the court large portions of the six-page statement of offense that prosecutors and Flynn originally agreed formed the basis of the charge to which he pleaded guilty Dec. 1.

“This is a very serious offense -- a high-ranking senior official of the government, making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation while on the physical premises of the White House,” Sullivan said, accenting every word, adding,...

“The court will also consider [the defendant’s] substantial assistance in several investigations," Judge Sullivan said.

Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack, asked if Flynn is still cooperating with the government by the court, answered, "It remains a possibility."

Steven Portnoy
‏*@stevenportnoy*
Prosecutor Van Grack says Flynn provided "substantial assistance" in the case announced yesterday, involving his work as an unregistered agent of the government of Turkey, and could have been charged in connection with that case.

Judge Sullivan is giving Flynn yet another chance to delay now telling him it's his "prerogative" whether to move forward because he hasn't necessarily finished offering helpful information to the government that might mitigate a sentence.

Sullivan repeats the phrase "very serious offense" to describe Flynn's crime... "in the West Wing!"

"The aggravating circumstances are serious," Sullivan says.

SULLIVAN WARNS FLYNN OF A PRISON SENTENCE:

"You were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the National Security Adviser to the president!

"Arguably, this undermines everything this flag over here stands for! Arguably, you sold your country out!"

Sullivan: "I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain, for this criminal offense."

Giving Flynn the chance to delay until he's finished cooperating, Sullivan says he "can't promise anything" about the sentence he's about to hand down.

I gotta tell you folks, this is pretty good drama.

It's a shame federal courts have decided the public shouldn't be able to see this on television.

Thank you for the link, Pain - I obviously got hold of quite the wrong end of the stick about Judge Sullivan.

Ryan J. Reilly
‏**@ryanjreilly**
Judge Sullivan is now asking government if Flynn could have been charged under the Logan Act, or if there are any other charges that Flynn could have faced.

Ginger Gibson
@GingerGibson
Flynn prosecutor declines to answer whether Flynn could have been charged with treason given the seriousness of the charge - when asked by judge.

Ryan J. Reilly
‏**@ryanjreilly**
They’re now taking a recess until 12:30, at Flynn’s request.

I shared your concerns too! It did start off looking very much like he was trying to get Flynn off but it's all part of establishing the "beyond all reasonable doubt" I suppose.

Tense.

Steven Portnoy
@stevenportnoy
Flynn has reentered the courtroom, after taking the judge up on his offer to confer with his lawyers before moving forward to sentencing.

We're waiting on Judge Sullivan to come back.

Katherine Faulders
@KFaulders
There appears to be a clear shift in Michael Flynn's mood prior to hearing, he seemed much more upbeat. Smiling with attorneys. Now appears much more serious in his demeanor. Sitting quietly with no smiles from my vantage point in the media room.

Steven Portnoy
@stevenportnoy
BACK IN SESSION:

Judge Sullivan reconvenes court at 12:42pET.

Sullivan begins by BACKTRACKING on his remarks that Flynn was an unregistered foreign agent while working in the White House, and that he may have committed treason.

"I felt terrible about that," Sullivan says, after the prosecutor notes Flynn's conduct as a foreign agent ended in mid-Nov 2016.

"I'm not suggesting he committed treason," Sullivan adds, further apologizing for his remarks in the prior session.

Zoe Tillman
‏*@ZoeTillman*
The judge begins by clarifying that he wasn't suggesting Michael Flynn committed treason, he was asking to get a sense of offenses — "I was just curious." Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack says the government had no reason to believe Flynn committed treason

For the first time in a long while, SSanders is holding a press conference, due in about 35 minutes. It should be an interesting one, given what is happening with Flynn

Zoe Tillman
‏*@ZoeTillman*
Re: Flynn's arg his case is different from Mueller defendants who pleaded guilty to lying and went to jail, George Papadopoulos and Alex van der Zwaan, the judge says he doesn't think the cases are analogous — neither was a high-ranking govt official who lied in the White House

Flynn's lawyer Robert Kelner argues that on the flip side, when Flynn decided to cooperate, he did so knowing that his status would send a message. Sullivan asks if they want to proceed to sentencing, Kelner asks for a moment, jokes that he's "building up to it"

Steven Portnoy
‏*@stevenportnoy*
"General Flynn has held nothing back [from prosecutors]. Nothing," says his defense lawyer, Robert Kelner.

Ryan J. Reilly
@ryanjreilly
FLYNN LAWYER NOW SEEKS TO DELAY SENTENCING.

(I'm aware I'm spamming the thread so tell me if it's annoying!)

Zoe Tillman
‏*@ZoeTillman*

**Flynn's lawyer says they're prepared to delay sentencing to allow Flynn to fully finish cooperating with the government, noting that they expect he'll be asked to testify in the EDVA case unsealed yesterday

BREAKING: Michael Flynn's sentencing will be postponed to give him time to finish fully cooperating with federal prosecutors

A status report on whether Flynn is ready for sentencing will be due by March 13 at noon

Steven Portnoy
‏*@stevenportnoy*
Judge Sullivan repeats he won't make any promises when it comes time to deliver his sentence.

Andrew Prokop
‏*@awprokop*
Judge Sullivan: “Let me just say this, I probably shouldn’t. I don’t agree with the Petraeus sentence. Sorry.”
(Four star general, classified information, he suggests it was too lenient.)

Thanks Pain. That was very helpful to keep in touch with what was happening. I'm glad the judge expressed his distaste for what Flynn did. His honesty is refreshing and so unusual these days that is seemed quite shocking.

The special report was on TV about the sentence delay. It was so fast that I didn't get the complete gist.

It sounded like the judge has a problem with Flynn's guilty plea, as in either the judge wasn't sure that Flynn was being sincere when he pled (pleaded?) guilty or that he feels Flynn doesn't completely understand what he's pleading guilty to?

I am confused.

OK, so, could it be that by giving multiple chances to 'backtrack', that the judge is taking extraordinary steps to assure that there are no appeals or 'questions' about the case based on the circumstances surrounding Flynn's interviews with the FBI?

Scrotus et al have been bleating about how 'unfair' and 'underhanded' the FBI's treatment of Flynn was. This way, if Flynn and his lawyers don't take this 'out' offered by the judge, then Flynn & Co are saying that his treatment was completely fair and above board.

Don't apologise – I'm gripped!

Yeah, I'm going with your second post, Across.

Flynn's been trying to play #sorrynotsorry; like a No Fault Apology. The judge has called him on this.