[Washington Examiner] Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who arranged the bureau's interview with then-national security adviser Michael Flynn at the White House on Jan. 24, 2017 ‐ the interview that ultimately led to Flynn's guilty plea on one count of making false statements ‐ suggested Flynn not have a lawyer present at the session, according to newly-filed court documents. In addition, FBI officials, along with the two agents who interviewed Flynn, decided specifically not to warn him that there would be penalties for making false statements because the agents wanted to ensure that Flynn was "relaxed" during the session.
The new information, drawn from McCabe's account of events plus the FBI agents' writeup of the interview ‐ the so-called 302 report ‐ is contained in a sentencing memo filed Tuesday by Flynn's defense team.
Citing McCabe's account, the sentencing memo says that shortly after noon on Jan. 24 ‐ the fourth day of the new Trump administration ‐ McCabe called Flynn on a secure phone in Flynn's West Wing office. The two men discussed business briefly and then McCabe said that he "felt that we needed to have two of our agents sit down" with Flynn to discuss Flynn's talks with Russian officials during the presidential transition.
McCabe, by his own account, urged Flynn to talk to the agents alone, without a lawyer present. "I explained that I thought the quickest way to get this done was to have a conversation between [Flynn] and the agents only," McCabe wrote. "I further stated that if LTG Flynn wished to include anyone else in the meeting, like the White House counsel for instance, that I would need to involve the Department of Justice. [Flynn] stated that this would not be necessary and agreed to meet with the agents without any additional participants."
Within two hours, the agents were in Flynn's office. According to the 302 report quoted in the Flynn sentencing document, the agents said Flynn was "relaxed and jocular" and offered the agents "a little tour" of his part of the White House.
"The agents did not provide Gen. Flynn with a warning of the penalties for making a false statement under 18 U.S.C. 1001 before, during, or after the interview," the Flynn memo says. According to the 302, before the interview, McCabe and other FBI officials "decided the agents would not warn Flynn that it was a crime to lie during an FBI interview because they wanted Flynn to be relaxed, and they were concerned that giving the warnings might adversely affect the rapport."
The agents had, of course, seen transcripts of Flynn's wiretapped conversations with Russian then-ambassador Sergey Kislyak. "Before the interview, FBI officials had also decided that if 'Flynn said he did not remember something they knew he said, they would use the exact words Flynn used ... to try to refresh his recollection. If Flynn still would not confirm what he said ... they would not confront him or talk him through it,'" the Flynn memo says, citing the FBI 302.
"One of the agents reported that Gen. Flynn was 'unguarded' during the interview and 'clearly saw the FBI agents as allies,'" the Flynn memo says, again citing the 302.
That is all the sentencing document contains about the interview itself. In a footnote, Flynn's lawyers noted that the government did not object to the quotations from the FBI 302 report.
In one striking detail, footnotes in the Flynn memo say the 302 report cited was dated Aug. 22, 2017 ‐ nearly seven months after the Flynn interview. It is not clear why the report would be written so long after the interview itself.
The brief excerpts from the 302 used in the Flynn defense memo will likely spur more requests from Congress to see the original FBI documents. Both House and Senate investigating committees have demanded that the Justice Department allow them to see the Flynn 302, but have so far been refused.
In the memo, Flynn's lawyers say that he made a "serious error in judgment" in the interview. Citing Flynn's distinguished 30-plus year record of service in the U.S. Army, they ask the judge to go along with special counsel Robert Mueller's recommendation that Flynn be spared any time in prison.
#5
In addition, FBI officials, along with the two agents who interviewed Flynn, decided specifically not to warn him that there would be penalties for making false statements because the agents wanted to ensure that Flynn was "relaxed" during the session.
#8
Flynn is probably used to working with honorable folks.
Possibly, however, by the same account he should be used to dealing with less than honorable people. The Intelligence game is rife with duplicitous and dishonorable people.
#13
McCabe likely engaged in a conspiracy to subvert Justice and abuse the authority of the intelligence agencies and the Justice department by going after and destroying political adversaries.
I don't think we have heard the end to this. Nowhere have I heard in what way Flynn lied to the Feebs.
Mueller is being sued by Corsi. A public trial and discovery would probably shine some light on this "special counsel."
[Free Beacon] Washington Free Beacon senior writer Elizabeth Harrington on Tuesday said the idea of building a wall on the southern border is more popular with the American people than the media believe.
Harrington's comments came during a discussion on a contentious meeting between President Donald Trump, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), in which border security was a central topic.
"I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck," Trump said. "The people of this country don't want criminals and people that have lots of problems and drugs pouring into our country, so I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I'm not going to blame you for it. The last time you shut it down, it didn't work ... I'm going to shut it down for border security."
Fox News host Neil Cavuto asked Harrington if it was worth it for Republicans and Democrats to make border wall funding the central issue in the debate over avoiding a government shutdown.
"Yeah, because this is President Trump's signature issue and this might be his last chance with a Republican-led house to get it done, at least a big down payment on the wall, which he's been promising since he went down that escalator," said Harrington. "But yeah, I think it's really sad in a way that the mainstream media finds it so remarkable and wild to see our political leaders actually engaging in discussion over policy. They can't handle it over on the other networks. They're so taken aback. They're much more comfortable, I think, on their shallow palace intrigue stories."
"But here we have a straightforward debate, $5 billion, not that much for something that Chuck Schumer himself as voted for. I think President Trump is willing to have that fight. I think it's a much more popular issue with the American people than the media thinks," Harrington continued.
#1
I think the MSM hasn't got a clue what those outside their bubble think
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/12/2018 7:00 Comments ||
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#2
I think that President Trump Needed to explain the wall as part of a system of surveillance, obstruction of illegals and threats to national security and US citizens. The wall is only part of the system.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/12/2018 15:46 Comments ||
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#3
The issue at its heart is national sovereignty. Ask the survivors of pre-Columbian America how that worked out for them, even though most are Dems now.
Michael Avenatti - Unemployed Lawyer of the year
[NY Post] Porn actress Stormy Daniels was ordered on Tuesday to pay nearly $300,000 in attorneys' fees to President Trump following the dismissal of a lawsuit she filed against him.
Daniels, who allegedly had a fling with Trump in 2006, was instructed to make the payments for filing a "meritless" defamation claim against the president, according to a court filing.
She had claimed the president smeared her on Twitter by calling her a liar.
US District Judge S. James Otero said the $292,052 in fees was a 25 percent reduction from the amount requested by Trump's team.
Otero noted that the case "should have been litigated much more efficiently."
Trump's lawyer Charles Harder declared victory in the case.
"The court's order, along with the court's prior order dismissing Stormy Daniels' defamation case against the President, together constitute a total victory for the President, and a total defeat for Stormy Daniels in this case," Harder said in a statement.
Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, said he would appeal the ruling and pointed to a larger case of a non-disclosure agreement Daniels' signed about the affair. of course he did. Who's going to pay his fees? That's a lotta ...
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/12/2018 00:00 ||
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#3
Are we overlooking something here? She seems to remember everything about her clients. Perhaps she should have been the Director of the FBI, not Comey.
Conservative MPs will vote tonight on whether to oust Theresa May as prime minister after at least 48 said they had no confidence in her https://t.co/VWsC1D59u3
[NBC News] New York Attorney Gen.-elect Letitia James says she plans to launch sweeping investigations into President Donald Trump, his family and "anyone" in his circle who may have violated the law once she settles into her new job next month. But Hillary and Obumble are ok to continue their scams.
"We will use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions and that of his family as well," James, a Democrat, told NBC News in her first extensive interview since she was elected last month.
James outlined some of the probes she intends to pursue with regard to the president, his businesses and his family members. They include:
Any illegalities involving Trump's real estate holdings in New York, highlighting the October New York Times investigation into the president's finances.
The June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian official.
Examine government subsidies Trump received, which were also the subject of Times investigative work.
Whether he is in violation of the emoluments clause in the U.S. Constitution through his New York businesses.
Continue to probe the Trump Foundation.
"We want to investigate anyone in his orbit who has, in fact, violated the law," said James, who was endorsed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He made us look bad so we must destroy him and his family.
James campaigned on passing a bill to change New York's double jeopardy laws with an eye on possible pardons coming out of the White House. James told NBC News she wants to be able to pursue state charges against anyone the president were to pardon over federal charges or convictions and whose alleged crimes took place in the state. Under current New York law, she might not be unable to do that.
"I think within the first 100 days this bill will be passed," she said, adding, "It is a priority because I have concerns with respect to the possibility that this administration might pardon some individuals who might face some criminal charges, but I do not want them to be immune from state charges." Ya know, these political torpedoes have a tendency to circle back on ya. I can see this becoming a problem later for like minded people that are pardoned by a demoncrat.
She's also enlisting help from some prosecutorial heavy hitters, like former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, as a part of her transition to help her identify important hires for her office with an eye on bringing in experts for its Trump-related investigations.
New York is home to the president's namesake business, the Trump Organization, and it is where Trump's presidential campaign was headquartered and his reelection campaign as well. And it is where a number of key events under special counsel Robert Mueller's microscope, such as the controversial June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, took place. All of that falls within James' jurisdiction.
As a result, she is about to become one of the most recognizable ‐ and powerful ‐ state attorneys general in the country. And there it is. A pure power grab. Expect her to run for president later on this.
[Wash Times] Everywhere President Trump looks, there are Democrats targeting him, from New York to Washington to Maryland, in the positions of lawmakers, prosecutors, state attorneys general, opposition researchers, bureaucrats and activist defense lawyers.
They are aiming at Russia collusion, the Trump Organization, the Trump Foundation, a Trump hotel, Trump tax returns, Trump campaign finances and supposed money laundering.
"The relentless assaults on this president from every front were previously unimaginable and absolutely unprecedented," said Sidney Powell, a Texas appeals attorney whose book, "License to Lie," takes on Justice Department corruption. "The ’resistance’ has sunk to a new low which I hope they live to regret. They truly became ’creeps on a mission to destroy the President.’"
Mr. Trump tweeted Thursday, "It’s called Presidential Harassment!"
All the while, what conservatives consider the most hostile press toward a president in modern times has fed the Russia collusion flames with hundreds of stories ‐ some of them bogus. The right-leaning Media Research Center analyzed NBC, ABC and CBS evening newscasts and found that 90 percent of their Trump stories were negative.
#3
I suspect the left is filled with idiots that have been throwing gasoline on the bonfire without any thoughts to the repercussions to society, and a small handful of psychotics encouraging and hoping for the point of no return that are too stupid to realize the repercussions to their wimpy asses.
BLUF:
[Hot Air] All Nadler hopes to do is to close the loophole presented by the current statute of limitations. If it’s true that sitting presidents can’t be indicted and it’s also true that the statute of limitations for the crime in question (five years) is already running, then Trump presumably can avoid prosecution entirely simply by getting reelected. So long as he’s in office through the end of 2021, the statute of limitations will expire with the DOJ never having had an opportunity to charge him. Nadler’s solution is simple: "Toll" (i.e. pause) the statute while the president is in office. Amend the law so that the statutes of limitation for crimes a president is accused of don’t begin to run until he’s left the job.
#4
1. Who needs no stinking Constitution. see - Ex Post Facto 2. Why start at the Orange Boy, why not extend it to cover his predecessors.
3. Teach us why we will get 'Presidents for Life' because no one is going to give up the power if it means being prosecuted afterward.
[American Thinker] Donald Trump will meet with Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to discuss a spending bill to fund about 25% of the government through September 30, 2019.
Before the election in November, Trump had signed off on a spending package that funded the Pentagon and most other federal agencies. But spending for Homeland Security, Agriculture, and HUD is currently being funded by a continuing resolution that expires December 21. If no agreement is reached by then, there will be at least a partial government shutdown.
The biggest stumbling block is funding for Trump's border wall. Trump wants $5 billion to begin construction, while Democrats are willing to give him $1.3 billion for "border security," which would not include any funds for the president's "immoral" wall, according to Pelosi.
There are other issues as well. Reform of the SNAP program funded by the Agriculture Department and contained in a gigantic farm bill and a bid by Democrats to formally rebuke Saudi Arabia for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi are also points of contention.
But it is funding for the wall that will be a major barrier to an agreement.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Washington Examiner] Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who arranged the bureau's interview with then-national security adviser Michael Flynn at the White House on Jan. 24, 2017 ‐ the interview that ultimately led to Flynn's guilty plea on one count of making false statements ‐ suggested Flynn not have a lawyer present at the session, according to newly-filed court documents. In addition, FBI officials, along with the two agents who interviewed Flynn, decided specifically not to warn him that there would be penalties for making false statements because the agents wanted to ensure that Flynn was "relaxed" during the session.
New York Attorney Gen.-elect Letitia James says she plans to launch sweeping investigations into President Donald Trump, his family and "anyone" in his circle who may have violated the law once she settles into her new job next month.
[Wash Times] Everywhere President Trump looks, there are Democrats targeting him, from New York to Washington to Maryland, in the positions of lawmakers, prosecutors, state attorneys general, opposition researchers, bureaucrats and activist defense lawyers.
