General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy is the media ignoring this about Michael Flynn regarding his sentencing guidelines?
Michael Flynn entered into a plea bargain with the FBI. That is not quite the same thing as "only pleading guilty to a single charge." The entire basis of the type of plea deal that Flynn originally struck with the FBI was a reward for cooperating with the prosecution in ongoing investigations into matters that he could bear witness to. And what exactly does that type "reward" entail? It entails going easy on him. Specifically it meant only charging Flynn with a single count of lying to the FBI when they could have thrown the book at him. Michael Flynn had serious criminal exposure across an array of possible charges. The full scope of Flynn's behavior was criminally damning and well documented, and conviction on just half of the potential charges that could have been leveled against Flynn would have resulted in him drawing sentencing guidelines far more severe than the relatively moderate ones that Barr subsequently forced Department of Justice prosecutors to withdraw prior to his pending sentencing.
This is a legal charade that goes far beyond any argument over whether Flynn deserves greater leniency over the single count that he ultimately did plead guilty to. Precisely because Flynn promised to cooperate he was not charged with more serious counts of criminal behavior that could have landed him behind bars for decades. Because Flynn promised to cooperate the sentencing guidelines applied to him today do not reflect the enormity of the crimes that the FBI investigated him for. And it is because of the enormity of those crimes, and the evidence that prosecutors had against him, that Michael Flynn originally agreed to plead guilty of just one count of lying to the FBI, trading promised cooperation for subsequent leniency. And now Barr has the audacity to argue that the sentencing guidelines are too harsh to apply to a man who only stands guilty of one count of lying to the FBI, and after Michael Flynn failed to deliver on his end of the original bargain.
I went back and searched for more information on the potential charges Flynn was facing had he not promised to cooperate with the feds - a promise he failed to make good on. I found this in lawfareblog.com:
"...Reports of Flynns bizarre behavior across a wide spectrum of areas began trickling out even before his tenure as national security adviser ended after only 24 days. These behaviors raised a raft of substantial criminal law questions that have been a matter of open speculation and reporting for months. His problems include, among other things, an alleged kidnapping plot, a plan to build nuclear power plants all over the Middle East, alleged violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) involving at least two different countries, and apparent false statements to the FBI. In light of the scope and range of the activity that reputable news organizations have attributed to Flynn, it is no surprise that he has agreed to cooperate with Mueller in exchange for leniency.
The surprising thing about the plea agreement and the stipulated facts underlying it is how narrow they are. Theres no whiff of the alleged Fethullah Gulen kidnapping talks. Flynn has escaped FARA and influence-peddling charges. And he has been allowed to plead to a single count of lying to the FBI. The factual stipulation is also narrow. It involves lies to the FBI on two broad matters and lies on Flynns belated FARA filings on another issue. If a tenth of the allegations against Flynn are true and provable, he has gotten a very good deal from Mueller."
https://www.lawfareblog.com/flynn-plea-quick-and-dirty-analysis
So because, on false premises, Flynn negotiated a sweetheart deal with the Feds that confined his conviction to just one relatively minor crime, the Department of Justice, under Barr, now argues that even the standard federal sentencing guidelines for that one crime are too harsh, because the crime itself was minor and his record is otherwise unblemished?
I expect that type of perverted reasoning from this Administration, but why aren't more legal pundits calling them on this?
ck4829
(35,077 posts)K&R
ck4829
(35,077 posts)Vinnie From Indy
(10,820 posts)Flynn cooperation deal included his son not being charged for his participation in the criminal activity.
Tom Rinaldo
(22,913 posts)And now that his son has escaped prosecution, on top of everything else that they could have thrown at Michael Flynn himself, the DOJ argues that he only deserves a slap on the wrist after withholding his promised cooperation? I'm sorry but even some of my favorite cable TV legal commenters have played right into Trump's hand on this so far, by only coloring inside the lines that Trump and Barr have drawn. No one is even hinting at the serious charges that Flynn ducked by entering into a one count guilty plea deal that he subsequently dishonored. It's not simply a matter of deciding what punishment an otherwise honorable public servant deserves for lying to the FBI once. The Judge could throw the book at Flynn for that and he would still be getting off easy.
triron
(22,007 posts)uponit7771
(90,347 posts)ck4829
(35,077 posts)ck4829
(35,077 posts)Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)greymattermom
(5,754 posts)Amy Berman Jackson.
MFGsunny
(2,356 posts)Bluepinky
(2,275 posts)Its hard to argue the facts in a world where there are no facts. And anyone in this administration who publicly speaks the truth is vanished.
Its like a nation of mindless, soulless zombies, who think that whats happening is all perfectly normal.
triron
(22,007 posts)spanone
(135,844 posts)FoxNewsSucks
(10,434 posts)restart the prosecution?
I've never been party to anything like that, but have done the diversion agreements a couple times to keep speeding tickets off my record. Even something as routine and relatively-unimportant as a traffic agreement had a clause stating that the defendant admits guilt and that admission would be used to prosecute if the defendant failed to keep the agreement.
I can't imagine an agreement like Flynn's wouldn't contain something like that.
Tom Rinaldo
(22,913 posts)But from years spent following along at home I suspect that the DOJ retains the right to file additional charges should they so choose if Flynn failed to honor their prior agreement BUT...
...no one is forcing them to, and if the DOJ is now in court arguing that Flynn only deserves a slap on the wrist for the one count that he has been convicted on, what are the odds that they will now pursue additional ones?
FoxNewsSucks
(10,434 posts)Once again, Barr's the problem. Just another impeachable offense.
ck4829
(35,077 posts)PufPuf23
(8,791 posts)ancianita
(36,095 posts)take most of the oxygen out of the media room these days.
The case will become big again for legal pundits if FBI prosecutors just do their job. But look at the Barring they get these days. He can get some leniency, but if he hasn't kept his end of this deal, he could be up later for the more serious charges that the FBI held back on.
SayItLoud
(1,702 posts)SDNY seems to not be going after ManaFART
Stone sentence up in air
Pardons will rain on everyone who helped tRUMP
Immunity will rain on anyone (think family) tRUMP desires to protect
Pence will give immunity, Barr will support that
Mueller's other 10 items of obstruction lost in the shuffle
Can a legal mind on DU share if any of these crooks will ever face any justice?
ck4829
(35,077 posts)mopinko
(70,127 posts)and gave him a continuance so he could cooperate further.
ck4829
(35,077 posts)mopinko
(70,127 posts)iirc, he sort of said it didnt fit the legal definition of treason, but...
ck4829
(35,077 posts)And that sums up this whole administration to a T (No pun intended).
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)if Gülen had indeed been kidnapped?
jayschool2013
(2,312 posts)Might I suggest you forward your thoughts to a few?
ck4829
(35,077 posts)jayschool2013
(2,312 posts)I know it's not your OP, but if you can vouch for its contents, ProPublica loves tips.
Tom Rinaldo
(22,913 posts)Feel free to share with any you know. This needs to be covered now because Trump is building his case to pardon Flynn.
jayschool2013
(2,312 posts)She's one of the few actual journalists on the TV.
karin_sj
(810 posts)Because the coverup general, AKA Barr, is on the job
Tom Rinaldo
(22,913 posts)But there still is time.
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)Was that Flynn's son would not be charged as he should have been.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,015 posts)between the $$$/eyeball thing, false equivalency and complete inability to know how to deal with the lies and gaslighting, they are largely, with a few notable exceptions, useless.
Evolve Dammit
(16,743 posts)it is now easy for the pundits to scream "He didn't do anything; one count, big Deal, lying to the FBI." You are precisely right that the entire story has been dropped by the media. GOP counts on America's short attention span and watering down any GOP criminal conduct. Works like a charm. Always ready to attack Dems though, for the slightest whiff of impropriety. They have it down pretty well.
ooky
(8,924 posts)is at least as news worthy as Barr's interference in the Stone sentencing and his choreographed stunt with Trump to make it appear that his interference is really Barr's "integrity" in showing his concern for proper sentencing and justice.
But looking in on MSNBC this morning it seems they are far more interested giving 99% of their air time to non-stop trashing of our democratic candidates and primary processes. I had it on for about an hour in the background while I was having my coffee and finally had to get up and go shut the shit off.
Lulu KC
(2,567 posts)It's almost like there aren't enough smart people left to translate what the sneaky people are doing. But probably there are people working on this and there is not room left in the media for them? Or they're being quiet for some strategic reason?
But yes--similar, but somewhat tangential--the week that Kobe died, there were two huge things going on that were related to Iran and I couldn't find anything in U.S. news sources about it--I only came across it on Al Jazeera. Things like this happen all the time.
Anyway, thank you for taking the time to mention this and post a deeply informative post. I appreciate it.
KPN
(15,646 posts)We should all be sending this and questions like it to our Congressionals. The system is broke. Only they can fix it.