What’s going on with Judge Sullivan? [Part I]
[NOTE: Here’s my attempt to tackle the question of what may have sparked Judge Sullivan’s behavior in the Flynn case. It’s probably going to be a two-parter, of which this is the first installment.
So, what’s going on here? Let me say at the outset that I don’t know for sure although I have some hunches. Politics may indeed be part of it, because after all, Flynn has become a highly important quarry for the left. Sullivan also may be experiencing some sort of decline in his cognitive powers. And it’s quite possible he’s enjoying the limelight, as well. But I think there is a basic and more personal motive underlying it all, and that Sullivan has come to hate Michael Flynn.
Judge Emmet Sullivan has certainly gotten our attention lately, by refusing to dismiss the case against Michael Flynn even though the prosecution has backed off because the investigators violated his rights and caused his prosecution to be deeply flawed.
Sullivan came to the case late, on a random assignment after the first judge – the one who took Flynn’s original guilty plea – recused himself (or was removed) for, of all things, a friendship with Strzok that was revealed in the Strzok/Page texts. Washington DC is nothing if not involuted.
The original judge, Contreras, had accepted Flynn’s guilty plea one day before the Strzok/Page texts were revealed, and he stepped down a few days after. So the case up to that point was already compromised, because of the friendship and the fact that Contreras had initially taken the case despite the relationship.
Then almost a year later, on December 18, 2018, at what was supposed to be Flynn’s sentencing hearing based on his guilty plea plus cooperation with prosecutors – a hearing at which the prosecutors were recommending leniency for Flynn and no prison term – Judge Sullivan made it clear that he was not going to rubber stamp the deal. He had his own ideas about Flynn’s crimes, and he wasn’t shy about expressing his feelings toward Flynn. On page 33 of the transcript of the hearing, you can find this statement by Sullivan: “”I’m not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense.”
The transcript is pretty long, but if you can take the time to read it I think you’ll find it interesting. At one point (page 36), Sullivan even outlandishly mentioned that perhaps the prosecutors could have considered Flynn’s behavior treason, a statement so bizarre that it left even Flynn’s prosecutor almost unable to think of a response. Here’s the exchange:
[SULLIVAN]: …is there an opinion about the conduct of the defendant the following days that rises to the level of treasonous activity on [Flynn’s] part?
MR.VAN GRACK [prosecutor]: The government did not consider–I shouldn’t say– I shouldn’t say did not consider, but in terms of the evidence that the government had at the time, that was not something that we were considering in terms of charging the defendant.
[SULLIVAN]: All right. Hypothetically, could he have been charged with treason?
MR.VANGRACK: Your Honor, I want to be careful what I represent.
[SULLIVAN]: Sure.
MR.VANGRACK: And not having that information in front of me and because it’s such a serious question, I’m hesitant to answer it, especially because I think it’s different than asking if he could be charged under FARA…
Lawyers aren’t usually at a loss for words, but I think (without actually hearing an audio, which would be extremely helpful) that here Van Grack was so gobsmacked he was almost unable to answer as a result.
Quite a bit more was said about other topics, then there was a recess, and after the recess Sullivan actually apologized for his remarks. Whether he had calmed down all by himself, or whether he talked to someone who advised him to do so, I have no idea. But he felt the need to add that he really wasn’t suggesting that Flynn had committed treason, even though it’s pretty clear that he was suggesting at least that possibility. Sullivan was also well aware that what went on in that courtroom that day would be heavily reported, so he had to know his “treason” remarks would be anti-Flynn ammunition for the left.
Sullivan also makes a curious statement right after his apology [pages 40-41]. I’m talking about the next-to-last sentence in the following exchange:
[SULLIVAN]:And I said early on, Don’t read too much into the questions I ask .But I’m not suggesting he committed treason. I just asked a legitimate question.
MR.VANGRACK: Yes, Your Honor. And that affords us an opportunity to clarify something on our end which is, with respect to treason, I said I wanted to make sure I had the statute in front of me. The government has no reason to believe that the defendant committed treason; not just at the time, but having proffered with the defendant and spoken with him through 19 interviews, no concerns with respect to the issue of treason.
[SULLIVAN]: Right, right, and I’ve never presided over a treasonous offense and couldn’t tell you what the elements are anyway. I just asked the question.
As I’ve said many times, I’m not conversant with the usual courtroom conversations between judges and lawyers. But this seems extraordinary. Earlier, Sullivan has come from left field and made a statement about Flynn and treason that escalates things in a way no one has foreseen, and ultimately causes even the prosecutor (after the recess) to reassure him that no such crime was ever committed by this defendant. And then Sullivan reveals that he doesn’t even know what treason is, in the legal sense.
And that’s only a small part of what happened in that courtroom that day. By now, its shocking nature has been superseded, of course, by Sullivan’s more recent behavior in refusing to dismiss the case as the DOJ has requested, and even entertaining a charge against Flynn of criminal contempt for perjury, over his guilty plea. Sullivan’s recent actions are even more shocking and unusual than his earlier ones, and he may end up in trouble for them as a result of the writ of mandamus to which he’s been told to respond. But I believe the seeds of the whole thing began during that sentencing hearing, when Sullivan’s rage against Flynn was triggered by something (to be explored in Part II).
I believe that in addition to everything else – politics and possible cognitive issues – Sullivan became convinced that Flynn is a lying, treasonous weasel, and that Sullivan has become determined that Flynn will be imprisoned for something. Flynn has become the Moby Dick to Judge Sullivan’s Captain Ahab: “To the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.”
Is Flynn Sullivan’s whipping boy standing in for POTUS?
Judge hates POTUS but can’t hang him so he will hang Flynn instead.
Petulant little boy having a temper tantrum. This judge is the reason Justice has a sword in the hand that does not hold the scales.
I’ll defer to the professionals on this one, except to say there appears to be an awful lot of tiptoeing through the tulips when Judge Sullivan returns to the courtroom and clarifies his previous comments. One way of reading this would lead a person to wonder just what took place during the recess. But again, individuals with years of experience in the byplay of the federal courts would be far better guides.
Legal Insurrection just reported that Sullivan has hired a lawyer to represent him in the case.
expat: Wow!
Is duh judge asking the lawyer to compose a response to the Writ of Mandamus? Because he’s not charged with anything, he doesn’t need to defend anything.
Neo–I thought that the writ ordered the Judge himself to respond, to “explain himself,” his reasoning, and his actions, and not some lawyer he hired to interpose
herself between Judge Sullivan and the court.
Re: hiring a lawyer. The DC Circuit wants to hear from Sullivan, not his lawyer. I don’t think his lawyer told him to spit in the eye of both the DC Circuit and SCOTUS. I think Sullivan did that himself.
The lawyer can write his response, but Sullivan has to answer for himself how he concluded that Fokker and Rule 48(a) didn’t apply. I think his argument is that Flynn will say anything to avoid consequences—which is totally irrelevant to a legal basis for Sullivan’s actions in inserting himself into a criminal proceeding that the prosecutor and the defendant want to dismiss.
One of the things that struck me about the hearing transcript was that the judge picked up on a vibe that Flynn was criticizing his treatment by the government, and at one point seemed quite solicitous of Flynn on the question of whether he wanted to withdraw the plea or consult another attorney. Then he came out with the treason thing, and the comment about betraying the flag, and how disgusted he was. And I was thinking, gee, they say Trump is chaotic, take a look at this guy. So the current situation could be an outgrowth of the judge thinking he gave Flynn every chance to withdraw the plea back in 2018 and he wouldn’t do it.
There at the end he tells van Brack that he wants to know about materiality, a subject that is also very curious, in that the government’s position was that the substance of the Kislyak call was not material to either the guilty plea or any sentencing considerations (and thus did not have to be disclosed). This makes no sense to me.
A. Sullivan knows he’s being publicly slapped down by the Appeals Court and has hired this lawyer to write a response which is really a groveling apology that Sullivan can’t bring himself to write.
B. Sullivan has hired the lawyer to essentially go to war with the Appeals Court.
Is there an option C?
Mike
I’d bet there were some pointed questions and discussions during the recess, before Sullivan apologized for the treason comments. And some possibly heated discussions with Sullivan’s law clerk(s).
I wasn’t sure what to make of things regarding the Writ of Mandamus but if Sullivan hired an attorney for it, or because of it? Holy roller coaster Batman. My head spins thinking of it.
I’d bet money on one thing: Sullivan’s heard other things-in whatever the Federal Judiciary’s equivalent is to the rumblings coming from HR-, above and beyond the writ. That combined with the writ’s irregularity. I can see the judge and his staff having an ‘uh-oh’ moment if he hired an attorney.
The easiest explanation of Sullivan’s behavior is that he’s an ideologue and quite possibly a racist as well.
Flynn and Trump would represent everything such a man would hate. ‘Disgust’ is a strong emotion and hate’s handmaid. Based on his own words and actions, this ‘judge’ hates Flynn and will settle for nothing less than his destruction. That Flynn was set up and railroaded in a travesty not seen since Dreyfus is I suspect, justified in Sullivan’s mind as simply what a traitor deserves. And make no mistake, Sullivan in his heart of hearts, believes Flynn to indeed be a traitor, a traitor to America’s “fundamental transformation”.
The cognitive dysfunction of Sullivan and those on the left is literally biblical.
Sullivan is senior status and now that he has hired a left wing lawyer, maybe he wants to fight. The lawyer he hired (I have read) is on of Blasey Ford’s lawyers.
You have to find the reason for the hate of Flynn, and I don’t see one other than that Flynn didn’t help Mueller get Trump.
You need to put the time-line in here- Flynn pleaded guilty in late 2017, the sentencing phase was repeatedly delayed throughout from the end of 2017 until the hearing in December 2018, at which point it was delayed again, which was just 4 months before Mueller closed up shop and left town, but right about the time when people started to realize that Mueller was going to disappoint the Democrats. If you want a reason for why Sullivan hates Flynn, then there it is- he knew Flynn wasn’t going to lead to the impeachment of Trump.
I am just gobsmacked to hear that Sullivan is hiring a lawyer for his reply to the appeals panel. This is a damned federal judge with clerks working for him, what does he need a lawyer for?
As far as Sullivan is concerned, tar rail and feathers. Some assembly required.
Is his hiring a lawyer just another way for him to get in what he wanted Gleason to say? As others have said I don’t get the point of this.
If Sullivan and his clerks are unable to respond to the appeals court without outside help then he needs to resign or be removed because he is apparently unable to carry out his duties.
I am just gobsmacked to hear that Sullivan is hiring a lawyer for his reply to the appeals panel. This is a damned federal judge with clerks working for him, what does he need a lawyer for?
(1) He’s too dotty to write it himself and
(2a) there’s an issue in court rules with assigning this particular task to his clerks or
(2b) his clerks have produced a draft for him and it made him look like a fool or
(2c) his staff have told him en bloc that he needs to hang up his shoes.
Just spitballin’
Yancey Ward:
Patience!
This is just part I.
As far as Sullivan hiring a lawyer goes, I think he’s scared. I think he did not expect this decision from the court.
Also, please note the the WaPo article reporting the news about his hiring a lawyer says this: “according to a person familiar with the hire who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.” So it might not even be true.
Sorry, Neo- as I get older, I find I have less and less patience.
I’m wondering about Sullivan’s military career. Did he come to hate generals while in the army?
“doesn’t even know what treason is”…it is quite clearly defined in the Constitution…have to wonder, has he read that document lately?
“it might not even be true.”
No, neo, no! The WaPo would *never* print anything that wasn’t true! Not in a million years! Remember, *everything* you read in the newspaper is true. Except for those things of which you have personal knowledge.
With a judge at this level of the government who has been charged with being impartial in administrating the law as it has been written and then interpreted by sworn juries only addressing the charges brought before the court, what the hell is happening here?
How far out of line are these judges going to be allowed to travel before someone pulls on their reins ?
I agree with Geoffrey Britain with the addition that in this stage of the game to either overthrow now, or defeat later, President Trump and the American people; that Sullivan has to be acting in direct concert with the nomenklatura of the Left and this is a planned act. Which does not bode well for the future.
A prominent judge who has been a hugely influential public intellectual since the Reagan administration began acting strangely— or more strangely than usual—a couple of years ago, including getting into fights with colleagues he had worked well with for thirty years.
He was encouraged to retire— and perhaps more than encouraged. Now—a year or so later—he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s syndrome.
Maybe Sullivan lost the plotline.
Art Deco:
I cannot even imagine how a lawyer, or Sullivan’s clerks, or Sullivan himself could justify his actions. Whoever tries to respond to that court order has a tough task.
Amadeus48:
Sullivan may indeed be losing it. That’s what I meant when I wrote about a possible “decline in his cognitive powers.” But I also think something in the Flynn case has triggered him.
RT:
My research on Sullivan has not indicated any history of military service.
” I think he did not expect this decision from the court.”
Neo, I find this hard to believe. Circuit precedent on the Rule 48(a) motion in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, as defined by case law in the Fokker case, is pretty clear. Judges literally have no discretion when the prosecution requests to have charges dismissed.
This entire … charade? … Kabuki theater? … is baffling.
Michael Towns:
Yes, but people tend to believe what they WANT to believe.
Sullivan also knows the following: writs of mandamus are unusual to begin with and I’m not sure he thought Flynn’s team would file one. If they did file, I doubt he thought the court would even respond, because they usually don’t. And if they responded, he did not expect that they would order him to respond, because that is a highly unusual (perhaps even unprecedented) thing to occur.
So no, he didn’t expect to be faced with this despite the fact that he was way out of line.
Then this judge is an absolute idiot, because I’ve been watching Flynn’s attorney for the past couple of years: she’s a total legal warrior. And I knew that she was going to file the writ of mandamus. Again, because circuit precedent is clear on the issue.
I am absolutely stunned that this federal judge is either this incompetent after three decades on the federal bench, or this obviously partisan.
How about a Hypothetical Supreme Court?
Would there be a Nevada today if Hirohito had been a computer programmer?
Michael Towns:
He’s also in DC, where people probably think what he did is just great. Remember the Obama phone call that “leaked,” for example? And there are a number of prominent lawyers and law professors (and retired judges like Gleeson) advocating this type of action. Here’s the WaPo piece by Gleeson and two others. Their bios:
The title of their op-ed, published on May 11, is “The Flynn case isn’t over until the judge says it’s over,”
That’s the kind of thing he’s reading.
From the op-ed [my emphasis]:
Much more at the link.
Guess what happened on May 13? This:
He appoints Gleeson. What a coincidence!
There were plenty of people egging Sullivan on, including Obama. He expects their support. And he may have expected the Court of Appeals to see it that way, too.
Michael Towns:
By the way, in my comment above, that part I bolded in the Gleeson op-ed read in part: “…a full, adversarial inquiry, as the judge in the Flynn case has done in other situations where the department abdicated its prosecutorial role.” That attempts to norm the behavior by indicating Sullivan has done a similar thing before. As far as I know, he has not. But I believe they’re slyly referring to one of Sullivans’ actions in the Ted Stevens case.
Stevens had pled not guilty but been convicted by a jury, with Sullivan as judge. Afterwards (and after Stevens had lost his Senate seat as a result, which helped flip the Senate into Democratic hands), an FBI agent whistleblower came forward and revealed prosecutorial misconduct. At that point, AG Holder was recommending the case be thrown out (the misconduct from the FBI had occurred during the Bush administration, although it did not involve the higher-ups) and Sullivan did so – in part because sentencing had not been pronounced and Stevens had maintained his innocence right along. So there was no guilty plea involved. After that (and here’s the analogy I believe that Gleeson is referring to in that op-ed), Sullivan “initiated a criminal contempt investigation of six members of the prosecution.”
So yes, the government in Stevens had “abdicated its prosecutorial role.” But that was the Obama government. And the case against the defendant Stevens was already dismissed by Sullivan, in accord with the prosecution’s request, before Sullivan initiated that investigation of members of the prosecution. Huge difference. In Stevens, Sullivan was acceding to the wishes of the current prosecutors (Holder’s DOJ) to drop the case and absolve Stevens. He was not continuing a prosecution in the face of their objections. And the people he ordered investigated were prosecutors. Completely different situation, particular since Flynn has also been the victim of prosecutorial misconduct .
I’m not up to speed on the Flynn case. Perhaps someone can tell me: why was sentencing put off month after month? Couldn’t Judge Sullivan have avoided ALL of this by simply pronouncing a sentence and concluding the case?
Gen Flynn could have been done with by now.
btw, a note from a PowerLine post:
“A highly regarded litigator, Wilkinson represented top aides to Hillary Clinton in her email controversy.
She also assisted Brett Kavanaugh when Christine Blasey Ford made her unsubstantiated allegations against him.”
JimNorCal:
For a while, Sullivan indicated he might send Flynn to prison if he didn’t cooperate in testifying against some business associates charged with FARA violations. Next, Flynn switched to Powell as his attorney. Later, they tried to withdraw his guilty plea.
Once again, Sullivan acts in character, connecting back to the support from the vast army of “the Deep Swamp Resistance”. All of his moves include them; his selected attorney for the Writ of Mandamus response has deep DC ties – interestingly she successfully argued for Timothy McVeigh’s execution, describing him as a traitor. But then, she also defended SC candidate Kavanaugh.
Each step by Sullivan in this end game has drawn on this inside-the-beltway support function. I still conclude it’s about Flynn and his past tenure with Obama, and only marginally related to the Trump administration – there is just too little to gain politically on a case so thoroughly and deeply flawed from its onset, to square with the magnitude of the attention and resources being brought to bear. Looking forward to Part II. Nice work!
More news reports about the lawyer.
https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/judge-overseeing-flynn-case-has-hired-lawyer-defend-his-decision-not-drop-it
Interesting that the lawyer was on Kavanaugh’s side — how does that change any analysis of the judge’s views on Flynn and Trump? Is she really part of the Swamp, or just a really good defense attorney?
https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2020/05/23/flynn-judge-emmet-sullivan-hires-veteran-trial-lawyer-beth-wilkinson/
https://dailycaller.com/2018/09/17/kavanaugh-beth-wilkinson-female-lawyer/
Quite a bit more was said about other topics,
Those other topics that Sullivan addressed included Gen. Flynn’s paid lobbying for the state of Turkey, which lobbying he had been able to hide because the payment came from a front organization in The Netherlands. As part of his deception he never bothered to register as an agent for a foreign power, which was a violation of The Logan Act. When Sullivan brought up the Treason question it was specifically in regard to that, not his lying to the FBI.
He [Sullivan] later admonished him for his lobbying work for Turkey, saying, “Arguably, this undermines everything this flag over here stands for. Arguably, you sold your country out.” Sullivan also asked the prosecutor whether they had considered charging Flynn with treason.
https://www.axios.com/michael-flynn-sentencing-jail-time-b2529201-b052-4417-829d-b3a5434c1964.html
I know you don’t want to admit that after Flynn was fired by Obama he decided, like a lot of well connected former officials on both sides of the political spectrum, to sell his influence. One of the things Flynn did to fulfill his $530,000 pay off was to write an editorial in The Hill on behalf of Erdogan’s vendetta against Gulen. He also received thousands of dollars for interviews he gave to the Russian propaganda news outfit, RT News.
It is really sad how you profess to be reality oriented, to seek the truth no matter where it leads, and then purposely lie by omission. I once had great respect you Neo. Not anymore.
2hrs ago, Sydney Powell just retweeted this tweet: “Sullivan is now a one-man circus as judge, prosecutor, AND defendant in the same case.”
On Powerlineblog, a wag held my thoughts that this is indeed beginning to slide into early Woody Allen film territory. Yeah, chimed in one humoresque, Sullivan can wear his underwear on the outside [so changing them often can be checked], and Wilkinson can deliver her brief…in Swedish! [Reference: Bananas and the new leader speech, see the segment on YouTube to refresh memories]
Seems to me that what Sullivan is saying is:
“My inalienable right to continue to screw Michael Flynn (and through him, Donald Trump) is being undermined by a rogue DOJ. This UNPRECEDENTED POLITICIZATION, ABUSE and PERSECUTION of the American legal system by the Trump-infected DOJ has got to STOP and I am pursuing all legal options at my disposal to nip it in the bud. I refuse to yield my rights as an American AND as an American judge. I refuse to be victimized by the Trump administration, which must be resisted by all decent people everywhere and by all means necessary. JUSTICE NOW!!! (Well, except for Michael Flynn, who certainly deserves whatever he gets, IOW whatever I can, as is my right, dish out to him.)”
File under: America’s Carrollingian period.
This judge will be 73 in a couple weeks so that would seem to make cognitive decline unlikely. Not out of the question but still it seems to me that he has just gone so deep into the weeds of TDS that he can’t stop himself. We’ve had the ‘Hawaiian judge’ syndrome but for the most part the judges have been eventually reigned in and this guy will to it looks like but man this Flynn guy has had maybe the most outrageous legal trip imaginable without serving any time. The process has definitely been the punishment for him except he didn’t do anything wrong.
Axios, eh?
Wrote an editorial placed at The Hill, eh?
Gave interviews to RT, eh?
Well, I’m sure those are felonies. Or not.
How do you feel about Bill Clinton’s speaking fee in Russia while Hillary was SoS?
How do you feel about John “Lurch” Kerry secretly meeting with Iran and counseling them to resist Trump?
Thank you Neo for such a careful peek under the surface of this bizarre judicial behavior. Look forward to part two. I would make the general observation that as this process unfolds the new information is in the details. We have known for three years the ends justify any means approach of the DC establishment, but as they are methodically exposed their behavior is really getting er… florid. Obama’s claim that the prosecution dropping charges is ‘unprecedented’ strikes me as saying something obviously untrue because he is speaking to people ..as another commenter said..who WANT to believe. Likewise Adam Schiff’s recent statements reflect a similar level of desperation. So my take is that Sullivan has a bit of actual power in the situation and thinks, mistakenly, he can misuse it with impunity. I don’t think any of them still realise that their behavior right from asking the Electoral College electors to vote for Hillary keeps confirming their unconscious belief that they, and only they, have any right to power.
One minor correction:
…purposely lie by omission.
Technically you didn’t lie since you linked to the court transcript, page 33 where Sullivan makes it clear why he was disgusted with Flynn. You just omitted it in your post expecting most people not to bother with the details in a long transcript.
Actually Neo, you would have made a good attorney since they are never after the truth, but only endeavor to make a case for their side, never allowing anything derogatory to taint their client no matter how damning.
—————————-
JimNorCal:
I said “former officials of both political spectrums” which covers those lowlifes you mentioned.
The Other Chuck is concerned, should I care? Maybe The Other Chuck, Manju, and Montage can all get together for a good cry; best laid plans of mice and all that.
So, Flynn is not necessarily honorable in regards to FARA?
Hmmm … normally that means you fill out the forms and pay a fine.
You do not have the government violating your civil rights, bankrupting you, and threatening to jail your family.
Trying to make this appear Flynn’s fault is disgusting, but expected. I mean, really, Flynn did publicly go against Saint Obama. This is long after Saint Obama did a Stalin move with all officers in all branches. You didn’t kiss his ring, you were out. Heck, we had an admiral imply insurrection against Trump. Yep, an officer who made it through the Saint Obama Massacre.
The Other Chuck claims Flynn never registered for FARA?
But Sidney Powell refutes these claims, citing actual filings by Flynn’s firm, and argues that the US prosecutors composed the false statements charge by combining different documents into a fraud, and that Covington lawyers could have easily exposed the fraud.
Flynn lawyer Sidney Powell gives a lengthy three part answer at 28 to 31m of Dan Bonjino’s interview (Ep. 1256, posted online May 22, 2020).
https://bongino.com/ep-1256-interview-with-general-flynns-lawyer-sidney-powell
Pssst … Chucks, no one has ever been charged with violating the Logan Act …. no one and it is an old law.
The very fact you bring up this is because you are a fellow traveler of Saint Obama.
You have no shame and support actions worthy of any communist country .. show trials and all.
“never allowing anything derogatory to taint their client no matter how damning.”
And yet the other chuck has no problem with all the known prosecutorial malfeasance in this case – the forged evidence, illegal leaks, withholding of exculpatory information. Go figure. Not to mention the prosecution and disputed plea had zip dot squat to do with Flynn’s work for Turkey.
“I once had great respect you Neo. Not anymore.”
Your concern is duly noted. Along with your grammar.
TJ:
Whether Flynn registered or not, the fact that the country he represented, Turkey, was paying him indirectly through a front company in The Netherlands, says it all. The actual violation is as others stated, a minor offense. The important part is that he took a half million dollars to act on behalf of an increasingly fundamentalist Islamic country, one that he had spoken against in prior years.
Like most intelligence types, Gen. Flynn was obviously schooled in realpolitik which means right is whatever works, political expediency at all costs, and bare knuckles pragmatism. So he took some money from some Islamist dirtbag. No big deal, right?
All of you would be tearing him apart if he was a Democrat. But this is different. He’s “our guy” and it’s all just so unfair. He was set up.
Yes he was. And he didn’t know how D.C. works? Cry me a river.
FOAF: Yeah I left out “for” and you’ve never made a minor error?
PowerLine adds this nugget, “A highly regarded litigator, Wilkinson represented top aides to Hillary Clinton in her email controversy.”
And CTH commenter, that Wilkinson is married to David Gregory of NBC.
All of which Wikipedia confirms; and adds this, “She is a close personal friend of Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland who was never given a hearing by the Senate.”
She really does have a high-powered resume, but it isn’t consistently one-sided.
One last thing chucktroll – Turkey may be odious but they are a NATO ally so it would be hard to turn that into “treason”. And everyone knows the Logan Act is a joke, except maybe John Kerry who after Trump took office met with the leaders of Iran, not a NATO ally.
Chucky still clucking.
Flynn is a registered Democrat to this day.
You might want to think about that.
No one is safe from totalitarian arsehats.
FOAF:
“chucktroll”…
That’s exactly why I stopped posting here lest I become just that. I only occasionally drop by to lurk but this 2 part whitewash of Flynn got to me. Who does Neo think she’s fooling? Certainly not those of us who follow the whole story, and are not wedded to defending Trump and his lackeys at any cost.
I know exactly what the left is, perhaps better than Neo does anymore. She is so determined to put her past affiliation behind her, that she feels it necessary to defend what the right has become, even when it shouldn’t be defended. Any talk about the socialist nature of Trump’s bailout, about his complete surrender to Keynesian economics, his abandoning The Wall, his trade failures, his warped version of identity politics, etc…are verboten now.
You’re part of a cult and you don’t even know it.
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TexasDude:
So Flynn is a Democrat. So is Victor Davis Hanson.
The Other Chuck:
Perhaps you should go back to troll school for a brush-up course.
I would suggest a workshop in “reading comprehension.”
For example, what part of “Part I” in the title of the post do you not understand? Or what part of ” It’s probably going to be a two-parter, of which this is the first installment” is so opaque to you?
And then there’s:
That’s three times it was made clear that this is only the first part of at least two segments.
That means (just in case it’s not crystal clear yet) other issues will be explored in a subsequent post known as “Part II.”
There may even be a Part III, although I sincerely hope not. But Sullivan and Flynn is a big topic. I am fairly sure I will not be covering the whole thing – a book would hardly suffice – but of course Turkey is planned to be discussed, since it’s relevant to Sullivan’s reaction at the hearing.
I happen to be awake tonight at this hour and looking at the blog because I just finished having some fun and taking the evening off, watching some TV and a movie. That’s when the trolls natter on, I guess.
So, yes, Chuck, you do think the Constitution is only for certain people.
It’s fine to be oppositional, but ya have to do it honestly.
Do you think a cop has the right to plant evidence, fake interview records, and lie under oath in court?
Do you think prosecutors get to withhold evidence showing someone innocent?
Do you think a judge can ignore rules of the court and Supreme Court precedent?
Whether or not Flynn is shady is irrelevant. I do not think he is, but, again, it’s not the issue.
Not only do we have flagrant law enforcement crimes, we have prosecutorial abuse, and worse, a judge who stepped over into inherent Executive authority.
What’s sad is that ya don’t see that this can happen to you.
Meanwhile, Judge Sullivan cannot explain to a superior court on his reasoning and has hired a big time defense attorney.
Why?
He has no clerks?
He cannot type?
Don’t worry about it in the future Neo. It was a moment of weakness that prompted me to give in and ramble on. You do know that when someone expresses strong disagreement it’s sometimes because they once cared and feel betrayed. As to the 2nd part, now I know for sure you’ll address Flynn’s real “crime” and may possibly understand Sullivan’s outrage.
Sigh, what was Flynn’s real crime?
Why be coy? Just state it.
You know what’s funny, Chuck? One of the knocks on Flynn while he worked under Obama was that he was negative towards Islam. He also tried to change the DIA.
So, that’s the crime? Not registering as a foreign agent of Turkey, an Islamic state? Ya know, that’s a recent change in Turkey.
Poor Chuckie, he feels betrayed. Not by the FBI, not by Judge Sullivan, not by BHO and BHO’s minions but by Neo. Poor, poor Chuckie his feelz are hurtz. Sad.
Om:
It was directed at Neo the psychologist. But as to betrayal, there’s a long list starting with those who foolishly voted for an egomaniac talk show host because they couldn’t bring themselves to vote for much more highly qualified and gifted Senators from Florida, or Texas, both of whom are Latino. Instead they voted for the guy who made fun of them, who based his whole campaign on belittling and demonizing an entire race.
Talk show host? Trump?
His MAGA can be verified online since 1980 ( A one to two sentence blurb in a puff interview by Rona Berrett.)
Anyway, who is this talk show host?
Talk show, reality show, same thing. He was a host, OK? He was also a builder, a casino owner, a resort and golf course owner, and a promoter of various bogus schools. He was also a Democrat and friends with the Clintons among others. His resume was thoroughly hashed on this blog. Go back and read what Neo had to say about him when he running. You might be surprised.
neo,
Which movie? Did you enjoy it?
Was Sullivan playing Judge Sirica of Watergate fame? If he lays into Flynn maybe he’ll come up with the real story?
I have always thought that Sullivan had a view of this case that was formed by some sort of ex parte communication. Lunch with some Swamp denizen? Reading the opinion columns of WaPoop? Friendship with prior judge, who had also been on the FISA court?
We need to look at the timeline here. The hearing was in December 2018. Mueller’s report was still months away, but there was nonstop rumbling that something had gone very wrong at the FBI and the DOJ. The sentencing hearing should have been routine, but Sullivan turned it into a circus. Why? Well, because perhaps it would be the last chance to shake loose the real conspiracy between Trump and the Russians. Who would know more about it than Flynn? And Flynn, with Covington as his lawyers, filed a presentencing brief that pretty much said he was innocent but he was going to plead guilty.
I think it was Flynn’s brief that pushed Sullivan over the edge into crazy.
And of course thereafter, Flynn changed lawyers and wanted to withdraw his guilty plea.
I suspect that in Sullivan’s mind, Flynn is going to get away with it without ever having to face up to what Sullivan suspects he did. And now Trump’s DOJ is staging a Michael Flynn jailbreak in plain sight! Judge Sullivan to the rescue!
I’ll be interested to read what Neo thinks.
Listen, OtherChuck, debate is good even if one or other participants take it on the chin.
Yes, Trump was a Democrat. So was Reagan. HW Bush was a Republican president who voted for Hillary, the Democrat candidate. For what it’s worth, HW eschewed Reagan politics and that got him canned.
Trump’s MAGA is inherently Republican. So is his protection of American workers, well till HW that is. He is a big spender, so was W. What I think I hear is that he is not doctrinaire on conservatism. That’s actually a very good thing because conservatives, Republicans, tend to march down the same liberal, Democrat path, but do it slowly and making lots of noise, but walk still.
Anyway, per Neo’s post, Judge Sullivan was told or read somewhere that Flynn was a bad man, treasonous as he surprisingly uttered when Van Grack first came in with a light guilty plea bargain. Van Grack did not know what to say to such an outburst.
Now, Neo states she believes why and will give her reasoning in another installment. Judging from her posts, I am not sure she will make you feel any better.
Ironically, other than good to know and stretching this to closer to 5 years, the why is not really needed.
It is well documented from the government’s own documents that Flynn was railroaded and his civil rights violated. His plea was under duress.
Even in a murder trial, law enforcement and the prosecution cannot, must not, act as they did with Flynn. So, let’s say Flynn murdered someone. Faking evidence, lying about the evidence, threatening charging family members for unspecified crimes, etc means the murdering gets off scott free with no chance of being charged again on it if went through to trial.
Ya see how it works? With Flynn, the same concept. You just cannot fake a traffic violation and then go to trial over felonious amounts of drugs found on the person or in the car. That gets your cases tossed and you branded as not credible. It can get you thrown in jail and personally sued.
What’s his crime, otherChuck?
Wow, The Other Chuck. Thanks for revealing by revelling in the psych of NeverTrumper-hood.
It is important for Patriots to get their friends straight from their wayward or twisted or just bigoted former friends.
You and me both have an interest in getting that straight. My concern is with middle-class America and their panoply of neglected interests (cf, Elizabeth Price Foley “The Tea Party: Three Principles,” herself a con law prod; and Victor Davis Hanson “The Case for Trump”), versus the NeverTrump hatred for us and their boot-licking submission to the Ruling Class and elites. Somehow, you don’t seem to grasp those opposed class interests, ably explained for a decade by Angelo Codevilla.
As for your charge of racism, you are confusing Trump’s dislike of apologists for illegal aliens, who for many decades happen to be of mixed race of mostly Mexican origin, versus legal immigrants, who still happen to elude the racist in chief – according to you – to up to a million a year. Or don’t actual legal facts and the truth of numbers matter to you when you invent insults like racism?
Americans are sick tired of your silly ilk, Chuck.
Bush tried turning the other cheek for years and years, yet got treated like a crash test dummy (eg, millennials believe Bush killed more people than Joseph Stalin did, according to a YouGov poll in 2018). Stockholm syndrome much, Chuck?
Or are you self-consciously like SWJs and just invent neologisms when the long-used, tried and tested terms fail the intersectionality test of XX and XY science?
Or else, so obsessed by a deluded and denigrated decency, you can’t sort facts from fiction because you let the far left media think for you?
Judge Sullivan states the crime was false statements to the FBI. That is what Flynn pled guilty to.
This interview was consensual. Flynn was not detained in anyway. He was not under oath nor read his Miranda rights. This inherently means Flynn can lie all he wants and the FBI cannot legally charge him with anything. The FBI never recorded the interview and the original statement of fact from the FBI on what transpired is forever lost, supposedly. Yet, there are documents showing the FBI believed Flynn did not lie and that the subsequent official document of fact was faked.
So, what’s his crime? Why did Sullivan go on that rant?
By the way, from Flynn’s point of view, he had to change something. He had lost his entire life savings paying Covington, but they couldn’t even manage his guilty plea.
He hired Sydney Powell, who said every time she could, this Mueller team smells to high heaven and I am sure they are holding out, because they always did and they always do. She had gotten a good look at this Mueller crew in the Enron matter (Arthur Andersen conviction reversed 9-0 but 50,000 jobs gone) and she knew they are as crooked as any cosa nostra family.
Powell makes enough noise so that Sullivan smacks her down with a 100 page opinion on why there is no Brady problem because the DOJ has turned over all Brady mariels—except for the ones they didn’t—you know, the good stuff. But the walls are starting to crumble. The IG’s report comes out. The FISA court has never gotten one filing that was done right, and Barr is saying, let’s get to the bottom of this. Sullivan thinks, that is what I am trying to do. Then Jensen, who has been appointed to review the case, says this is horrible. Mueller and the FBI screwed up, and the case should be abandoned. Sullivan says to himself, you cannot do that, I am about to break this wide open by holding that snake Flynn’s feet to the fire. I’ll send that guy to jail for ten years if he doesn’t talk.
So hhere we are today.
T.O Chuck, you obviously don’t know this, but in this country you can’t charge someone with “being a bad man.” We have this thing called due process, which, among other things, means you have to charge someone with a specific crime. The Mueller team charged Flynn with lying to the FBI. They did not charge him with failing to file a FARA registration. Therefore, failing to file a FARA registration is not before the court. Therefore, it’s none of the judge’s damn business whether Flynn did or did not file, or even whether he should have filed. In most states — I don’t know if it’s true in the federal courts, but I suspect it is — you can’t even bring up other acts of the defendant unless they bear specifically on the case at bar. So get back on your high horse and ride away — but first, sweep up the pile of horseshit that you dropped.
I am so grateful that when I woke up in the early, thirty hours of darkness this morning and saw that The Other Chuck had crawled out from under his bridge and started his Troll stuff I resisted the urge to communicate with TOChuck and I went back to sleep. The stuff TOChuck says is so dead on wrong there is a strong desire to set his stuff straight which by the rules of trolls will never happen, it is impossible to win an internet argument with a troll and I don’t miss The Other Chuck one little bit. Go back under your troll bridge and eat some cabrito Chuck.
Part 1 a winner Neo !
Looking forward to Part 2.
You’ve enlivened your commenter community.
If you want to keep the show going on and on and on, you always have to be inventing new antics to keep the audience piqued, new shenanigans to keep them from leaving the theater (or circus tent).
And if confusing the hell out of ’em is what you have to do to keep ’em watching, then you gotta do what you gotta do.
(At least until November.)
Another way of looking at is, you have to confuse the opposition until it gives up either in exasperation or disgust. Seems that Sullivan has the entire DOJ totally bewildered and outraged—which just might be the flip side of “entertained”.
(And a third way of looking at it is, “Penalty-Killer” Sullivan is doing his darnedest to keep on “icing the puck” so as to keep fate at bay. The hockey equivalent of “1001 Nights”?…)
Congratulations Neo. When the trolls start coming out, you know you’re over the target.
The Other Chuck feels “betrayed”. Laughable. Call him Talk show host all you want. Prior careers mean nothing and it’s actions that matter. After all, a hairdresser and a barber have stepped up to be heroes in 2020 America.
Did The Other Chuck feel betrayed by all those other civil, polite politicians (I firmly believe Rubio, who the Other Chuck hinted at is as crooked as they come) who sold this country out for decades? He will claim that yes, he felt betrayed.
But he would still vote for them before the Talk Show host who, even now, wrestles with China and the Deep State. Yet, he feels betrayed by people who voted for the man taking on America’s enemies, within and without.
You can’t make this crap up.
…IOW His Honor, Emmet Scheherazade….
…or perhaps, more accurately, Obama’s Leonidas….
Well, I have re-read the whole transcript of the sentencing hearing. Sullivan got his nose out of joint by Flynn’s lawyer’s citing the Petraeus case. He said he, the judge, didn’t know anything about the Petraeus case, but he disagreed with it. That is weird, and it hits me that Sullivan was on a roll about military officers dishonoring the flag, and Kelner took the wind out of his sails.
I am eager to read Neo’s thoughts. I am still going with Sullivan’s wanting to be Judge Sirica.
Sorry, Neo- as I get older, I find I have less and less patience.
You have to wait ’till you’re 75 before you get to say whatever you damn please. Your wife will have to wait ’til she’s 90. The smart money says Michael K is most entertaining when he says whatever he damn pleases.
Those other topics that Sullivan addressed included Gen. Flynn’s paid lobbying for the state of Turkey,
Meade bans you at Althouse, so you have to stink up some other corner of the internet.
Wow, I missed the fireworks.
How many times does a woodchucktroll chucktroll?
Thank you, Neo, for your responses to me being flabbergasted by this whole thing.
So, inquiring minds want to know.
Is Sullivan paying for this attorney he hired to defend him and his conduct out of his own–no doubt–very full pockets, or are taxpayers getting screwed yet again, and on the hook for Sullivan’s high-priced defender?
A few things …
In 2012, Democrat Maxine Waters stated Obama is building a database on everyone and that Democrats should be on point.
In 2012, under Obama, AG Holder tasked the National Counterterrorism Center to collect and analyze data on US citizens for pattern analysis in order to figure out suspicious behavior. This data and analysis would then be shared with foreign allies. It should be noted CIA Director Brennan was the first to lead the center under W, 2004-2005.
The political targeting of conservative Tea Party groups by the IRS under Obama.
The spying on journalists and the Senate by Obama.
The illegal access of NSA data going as far back as 2012, but massively upticked 2015-2016.
And we are supposed to now believe Flynn’s case was predicated, ie had probable cause, to investigate?
Maybe, but I doubt it because FBI Director Comey could not give a clear, concise reason to President Obama in that infamous meeting that included VP Biden. Oh, I guess you mean traveling to other countries and on speaking terms with their ambassadors or even leaders is predicate?
In the transcript, it is clear Judge Sullivan believes Flynn sullied his commission and the US by lobbying for Turkey. Even if Flynn did abuse his commission, it is not illegal nor even improper. He just didn’t fill out the proper forms at first and then when his former law firm did, it appears they botched it up.
However, none of that was at issue in Sullivan’s court as he notes in the transcript. It was lying to the FBI.
The transcript has the prosecution stating they interviewed Flynn 19 times. Well, it is well known that the 1st interview was consensual, not subject to law or the FBI’s understanding of it.
It is documented that the DOJ and the FBI attempted to get Flynn to say something bad about a business partner that they brought a case against and, in turn, in my view, say something bad about President Trump. Neither happened. It should be noted that the case against his partner got thrown out, basically.
It is also known that in those 18 other interviews, the DOJ pressured Flynn to the point of bringing his son up on some vague charges. It is known for that the DOJ did not do this in a way for it to be brought in Flynn’s own trial. Around the same time negative news articles appeared about Flynn, only about Flynn’s case, but accompanied by a picture of Flynn and his son. Message sent and received.
Not only did the FBI lose the official statement of that 1st interview, they, to this day, refuse to bring forth the transcript of the call to the Russian Ambassador. A call that is normal and from what has been leaked or characterized Flynn only stated Russia should be proportional in response to Obama’s sanctions. Sanctions that he put on just before Trump took office. Sanctions that appear ginned up to further bind Trump, especially in light of the poor case Mueller put forth.
With all this, we are supposed to now believe that Judge Sullivan’s statements and accusations are righteous and relevant to sentencing and, more importantly, Flynn’s change of plea?
Oh, I forgot to add …
From the FBI’s emails and texts, they did not believe Flynn lied about anything in that 1st interview, until higher ups intervened. An interview that FBI Director Comey publicity admitted he ordered done to take advantage of the neophyte administration.
Flynn’s case is inextricably linked to the Russian Hoax.
I don’t see why a writ of Habeas Corpus wouldn’t spring Flynn at this point. The prosecutor has to show cause why Flynn should be held and to state the charges against him. Since the prosecution has already moved to drop all charges, well, he should just walk?
TOChuck brought up a good point about Flynn and Turkey which was not previously discussed much here, nor in most press. Also not much discussed are details of Flynn’s son’s activities – far less then talk about Hunter Biden. Probably about like Kerry’s son; very little.
(It seems one of the popular legal ways for foreigners to bribe US officials is to “hire” their kids for phoney-baloney jobs for big bucks. Both Dems and Reps.)
Then he insulted Neo, and implicitly all of us who do want to be accurate and comprehensive.
TOthChuck the half-a-troll.
I’m actually sorry for the insult storms in both directions; happens on Neo’s place less than other places I’ve read on politics. But TOthChuck did start it, above.
(I also miss Manju’s view, wrong as I think it usually is.)
Too bad the insults so quickly and easily dominate the ideas.
So among the many comments, there is none that answer (before asked) my question about “why would Sullivan be so unhappy that Flynn lobbies for Turkey”? Assuming he actually is unhappy about that, which I think is the case.
On TOthChuck’s complaints about Trump – he has long been against illegal immigration, and in favor of building a Wall. Trump-haters claim this makes him a racist. Supporters disagree about this, but honest folk should be arguing about the Wall, and borders, not about the word “racist”.
Is part II ready yet?
Waiting…
(expecting it far sooner than any indictments of the Dem deep state criminals.)
Could it be that Sullivan is holding out in order to give “Undercover Huber” more time to dig up the systematic abuses committed by the Mueller-Weissmann (and friends) SCO team of Stasi-wannabee thugs and criminals?
The evidence is mounting:
https://twitter.com/JohnWHuber/status/1264599241441378306
…which post describes in gory detail how the Mueller-Weissmann gang (AKA the SCO) tied Papadopoulous to their custom-made rack, and turned, and turned—with the avid assistance of the US judicial system. No wonder Sullivan is doing what he’s doing: he’s simply paralyzed with outrage!!
Could it be that Sullivan is holding out in order to give “Undercover Huber” more time to dig up the systematic abuses committed by the Mueller-Weissmann (and friends) SCO team of Stasi-wannabee thugs and criminals?
You seem to amuse yourself with this sort of speculation. I doubt this judge does bank shots.
Barry Meislin:
“Gory detail” is right. The whole thing was so dirty you feel like you need to take a bath after reading it. Will there ever be a remedy?
One thing that’s absurd in light of similar provisions in state law is that you’d have a 20 year sentence for these offenses. It’s another reason, in case we needed one, to scarify the federal criminal code and re-calibrate its sentences. Twenty years is what you should get for hijacking or drug trafficking or for some ghastly fraud costing people millions, not some process crime so nebulous that the government could maintain you committed it by de-activating your Facebook account.
Will there ever be a remedy?
Minimum remedy is that every lawyer in Mueller’s office involved in that case gets disbarred. Not that it would matter in Sundown Bob’s case.
Actually, what I find absolutely amazing is how many field agents the CIA and the FBI used for these attempted entrapments, along with how many judges who seemed to be perfectly willing to turn a blind eye—in spite of the adage that justice should be “blind”—or in the case of Sullivan, actively participate (in the excoriation of the TRAITOR).
I was going to say “how many of these agents ended up getting “burned”, i.e., “outed”, sacrificed, but that wasn’t supposed to happen, of course. (How could it possibly happen? The plot was foolproof, sort of like Hillary’s assumption of the throne, one might say—a cert.)
It was obviously of the highest priority to Obama and his foul minions, utterly confident as they were—Moscow by September/October!–and had every good reason to be.
So what now? Will all these guys and gals be able to stay mum? Protect the queen bee? Or will we start seeing various and sundry bodies starting to show up in various and sundry places?
Would be nice to see some developments, even if it gives the MSCM a chance to—finally—write about it, if undoubtedly giving their stories the “Republicans pounce” treatment on “unproven and ridiculous conspiracy theories”, etc.
I am confident that this will happen. And soon. But am quite a bit anxious that the Democratic Party’s response, led by their utterly irresponsible leadership and buttressed by the pitbull media that must by their very nature—and “principles”, and “values”—egg them on, will further muddy the treacherous waters.
Oh well, courage!….
Looking forward to Part II, and to the comment thread.
Some of you people seem to never sleep, those of you in the US, anyhow.
The practical problem here is that you don’t see a lot of support for the obvious victims of this legal malpractice, a lot of people out in the streets protesting these evident injustices–in fact, you see no one, nor anyone writing an angry Letter to the Editor in protest, or getting on TV and protesting what Sullivan is doing or, for that matter, protesting the travesty of Justice and the Law that Justice Amy Berman Jackson has ensnared and manhandled Roger Stone with.
So, the only thing I can conclude is that– inside the Beltway at least–an effective majority of people are just fine with the version of Justice and adherence to the Law being dished out by Sullivan and Jackson i.e. the battle is already lost there, and the Cavalry is not likely to be coming over the hill, at least not in enough force to reverse things in any deep and substantial way, and for some substantial amount of time, because it appears that the corruption is already too widespread and deep.
“…ensnared…”
Indeed, Sullivan and Berman Jackson are birds of a feather. (And one despairs when wondering just how many more such avians are out there….)
It would be most interesting if, once Flynn is exonerated, as any decent person ought to believe he MUST be—in a law-abiding America, that is—once that happens, whether any defense lawyer with integrity and moral outrage will be sufficiently energized by the raw courage of Sidney Powell to open up a forum of some kind so as to explain to Judge Berman Jackson—who seems to be somehow unaware of such a novel proposition—that no person who expresses hatred for a defendant has any business being selected for the jury of said defendant’s trial and ESPECIALLY has no business being chosen as head juror.
Though to give Judge Berman Jackson more credit than perhaps she deserves, she actually IS most definitely aware of this “novel proposition” since otherwise she wouldn’t have bent over backwards to insist that such hatred expressed is really, truly, merely an expression of genuine non-partisanship, equanimity and fairness and as such, the juror has EVERY right to be head juror on that jury. Sigh.
Would that Powell has unleashed a truly righteous force to restore law and decency where corruption has been allowed and encouraged.
I would not be surprised if Sullivan, on the sly of course, has/is talking to Obama.
Yep, two black guys who hate everything about the USA.
Why?
Because they are liberal progressive leftist blacks who instinctively believe the USA is a racist, unjust nation founded upon the toils of black slaves and believe the PURPOSE of the American Revolution was NOT independence from the UK , but was initiated to preserve slavery.
Think I am crazy?
Just check out the NY Times Project 1619.
Don’t think for a second that (the self -anointed) “intellectual” blacks do not buy into the basic premise of Project 1619; they believe this total BS with every racist fiber of their existence (despite the fact that these “intellectual” blacks are typically within the upper socio-economic strata of American society).
Recall that Flynn was a top intelligence official within the Obama administration, and he, Flynn, know about all the illegal activities that Obama and his underlings were engaged in.
They had to shut him up and get rid of him, because he knew where all the bodies are buried.
Further he, Flynn, had been appointed by Trump to be his top national security official; a position that would allow Flynn to reveal the crimes and the individuals who engaged in this illegal and traitorous behaviour.
As it appears now, Obama was the “ring leader” in this treasonous activity.
Sullivan, an Obama suck-up , and possibly taking direct orders from Obama (through third parties; Valerie Jarrett??) is just “following orders.”
Sullivan’s actions, though perhaps destined to be futile, nevertheless will just keep delaying the total exoneration of Flynn and allow the media ( the propaganda arm of Obama and the demokrat pary), to misrepresent and broadcast to the public the official “Obama” take on the Flynn case.
Everything that Sullivan and the left are doing is implemented with a purpose; it is not stupidity or ignorance. It is intentional and purposeful and aimed at placing their propaganda into the minds of the citizenry.
Kate:
Lotta old people with sleep disorders 🙂
Neo:
Ditto for not that old. But, there are drugs …
“ One pill makes you larger,
and one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you, don’t do anything at all“
And another illustrious member of the cast of “American Psycho” (TM):
https://twitter.com/JohnWHuber/status/1264603626036658177
I would be surprised if either Obama or Sullivan are thinking about this in anything other than a personal way.
Obama is remembering all the times Flynn shredded the arguments that Obama and his acolytes were making about Obama’s grand strategic thinking in Iran.
Sullivan is thinking that his prerogatives as a district judge are being impinged as Flynn is about to go scot-free without accounting for his behavior. And now he has to explain to the DC Circuit why inventing unprecedented procedures to expose Flynn and his co-conspirators is a good thing. They praise Jed Rakoff in the New York Times when he does it!
And what if he got ex parte calls from Eric Holder, Judge Contreras, Al Sharpton, Stacey Abrams, Loretta Lynch, Oprah Winfrey, Mark Warner, Alec Baldwin, Spike Lee, or Joe Scarborough about this? He could be in real trouble!
Sad for Emmet that Memorial Day is a holiday, only four regular business days left to pull his whatever out of the latest briar patch.
Amadeus: “Sullivan got his nose out of joint by Flynn’s lawyer’s citing the Petraeus case”
Is Gen Petraeus the only Obama senior appointee who was removed for office?
His case … is curious.
Maybe Sullivan even got some information from former President Obama. That would put the cat amongst the pigeons.
Watch Beth Wilkinson steer the boat away from those rocks. I am pretty sure that she was hired to keep Sullivan from making a mistake in his explanation to the DC Circuit. There are all kinds of mistakes. There is lying. There is telling the truth. It is rarely a mistake to change the subject. I think we are going to hear a lot about unanswered questions with Sullivan saying he doesn’t know anything…he is just interested in asking questions. Look at how he backed away from his “treason” rant at the sentencing hearing.
More—similar—FBI abuses.
More “collateral damage”.
https://ricochet.com/760952/the-revolting-inquisition-of-k-t-mcfarland/
H/T Instapndit
They all have a lot to answer for.
And Sullivan wants to re-open the can of worms….
“Tripling Down for Dummies”?
Not that it’s likely but my optimistic self wonders if the judge isn’t going to fess up on the origins of the ‘treason’ injection i.e. it came from DNC operatives, confidentially.
But how crazy do you have to be to cross the Tricky Ds? Really it’s only Trump that will do so………and we’ve had 3 years of Trump the Snow Plow clearing a path. And the best we got taking up the fight is Don Jr? And Ted sometimes.
Eventually, when the indictments start coming out, someone is going to start talking to save their own skin. And that is when we see the blanks filled in to where we can see the big picture. Until then, it will never come completely into focus.
Neo, when I reached a certain age, I would get up in the middle of the night to check my email, and was surprised to find female friends of the same age were up, too. 🙂
Good links, Barry. I’m not a Twitter fan but Undercover Huber has become a key go-to site for this stuff along with CTH.
Seem to be an awful lot of people working in the same direction–Obama’s and the Deep State’s. Did they get recruited because they believed that stuff, or were they converted once in offices where they could do some good (bad)?
What’s in it for somebody who’s moved up the chain in DoJ and looking at a fat pension and likely a book deal. Lots of COLA, fed health care for self and family, lots of contacts with friends from the same field?
Maybe that times three. But then you have to do some bad things. How do they know you will? You might get caught and lose all the good stuff you had piled up. Doesn’t have to be public execution. Just firing and half a pension. Or none. How far are you willing to go for that fat (er) retirement package supplemented by phony director jobs? You can leave a ton of money with a million of survivorship life insurance. You don’t need to presume the Saudis or Chinese will continue to “like” you once you’re out of office. They’d pay only pour encourager les younger folks. But that’s until they decide not to.
So, you presume you won’t get caught. Because, most likely, you’ve seen many others get away with it and you have no worries. How many senior naval officers got right with Fat Leonard that their successors didn’t think they had to worry, either?
Or you really, really believe this stuff.
After a month of shutdown my sleep schedule went off the rails. I started waking up later and later until I was sleeping most of the day and staying awake most of the night. There are studies which say this happens when people are “free-running” without a schedule. It was kind of horrible.
I’m getting it back under control. I hammer down a big strong cup of coffee in the morning at 6am no matter what and try like hell to stay awake past dark.
_____________________________________________
Jennifer Lopez: How do you sleep at night?
Jason Statham: I don’t drink coffee after 7.
–“Parker” (2013)
http://klipd.com/watch/parker/how-do-you-sleep-at-night-scene
huxley:
I’ve had this problem my whole life, even when I was quite young, and it’s only gotten worse with age.
Every judge I ever knew/met was either a narcissist or power mad. Holding all that power over people and convinced of their moral superiority, they hate being found wrong. F**k judges.
By now, I hope you’ve seen this: https://www.theblaze.com/news/judge-at-center-of-michael-flynn-case-hires-high-profile-attorney?utm_content=buffer12bac&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=fb-heresthedeal&fbclid=IwAR0bFkIgx1B1Gzw4A1-wXjlgMoaCmpqHnDiLfahApbhGkhzeEffxH9DgQk4
This judge is an embarrassment to himself and his office.
neo on May 24, 2020 at 5:24 pm said:
Kate:
Lotta old people with sleep disorders
* * *
Busted!
It does, alas, seem like elements of the FBI/DOJ and now some of the judges have avidly, and most unfortunately, adopted a credo of:
“Perverted Justice, perverted Justice, thou shalt pursue”….
I will be interested to see if Neo’s analysis intersects with Dyer’s.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2020/05/25/real-jcpoa-asking-the-right-question-about-michael-flynn-and-judge-sullivans-folly/
Bottom line:
“why does someone besides the mullahs want to keep Iran’s nuclear weapons program going, in an undead and revivable state? Why does that someone want it badly enough to knock down every pillar of the rule of law in America?
…
I’m not certain what it is yet. But Lee Smith’s insight should have us looking in the right place. The sensitivity of the Obama alumni has been off the charts about three things: Trump, Flynn, and the JCPOA. They’re linked.”
Here’s an idea from a CTH commenter.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/05/24/sunday-talks-andy-biggs-discusses-why-now-as-chris-wray-initiates-an-fbi-investigation/
tav144 says:
May 24, 2020 at 10:44 pm
Why is Sullivan hiring a private attorney to respond to the DC appellate court?
THEORY —
Sullivan was in ex parte communication with the prosecution (Mueller team) all this time and likely a recipient of bribes. Sullivan knows that if DOJ joins the petition or responds to the invitation to, that this “collusion” will come out in the DOJ’s response. THAT is why DOJ has not yet responded. Yet. I think they were waiting to see if Sullivan would do the right thing without forcing their hand. The problem is the Swampers who colluded / bribed him know this info too. And they’re trying to pressure him to keep up the charade.
And THAT is why Sullivan hired an attorney. He’s caught between a rock and a hard place — two sides who both know of his criminal acts and they both know he knows that they know. He’s worried how this could end up in with public corruption and bribery charges against him!
It doesn’t have to include bribery; just colluding ex parte with the Swampers would possibly be serious enough.
Another thing I’ve never seen.
NYT had a leak that Pientka went to IG and complained about McCabe pressuring him to change the 302; Tweet is a screenshot of email from NYT reporter to Flynn’s attorney at Covington.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/05/24/sunday-talks-andy-biggs-discusses-why-now-as-chris-wray-initiates-an-fbi-investigation/comment-page-2/#comment-8251951
…embeds this Tweet, which I can’t cut-and-paste to save you the trouble of clicking over to look at it yourself.
https://twitter.com/J_Wooden/status/1261823483954073600
Sundance discusses the Strange Matter of the Recused Judge who preceded Sullivan, and what that might portend regarding the Circuit Court’s order.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/05/24/sunday-talks-sidney-powell-discusses-issues-surrounding-judge-sullivan-and-flynn-case-dc-district-court-and-now-circuit-court-have-intervened-in-flynn-case/#comment-8252271
AesopFan.
“It doesn’t have to include bribery; just colluding ex parte with the Swampers would possibly be serious enough.“
It doesn’t even have to include collusion, if there was ex parte communication. If Sullivan had ex parte with the prosecution team and didn’t inform the defense, that’s bad enough. Even if he rebuffed any offers of collusion. Ex parte is serious. There are only so many ways to do it legally and I don’t believe this rises to it.
That might explain the private counsel Sullivan retained.
AesopFan
“The media ignoring it, and the legions of former DOJ and FBI employees attempting to be disingenuous about it, does not change our level of information about it; and certainly does not change the disposition of a DC court system that has watched this playing out in their back yard.”
True as regards those paying attention. However, the general public remains vulnerable to the Deepers’ snorting and asserting there’s nothing there.
I followed a link from that Sundance post on Judge Sullivan. Maybe all we are dealing with here is Simple corruption related to Sullivan’s violent and criminal son.
In 2012 he was arrested for the violent assault and rape of an underage girl. He beat and raped her for several hours at his home, and when he was “finished” with her, he left her laying on the floor while he went and watched television.
He didn’t give her another thought until approximately an hour later when he went to use the bathroom and she was still laying in the same spot, unresponsive.
Did he call an ambulance out of concern? No. He left the house and called you from his car.(“You” being the judge)
You wanted to know who it was, obviously this has happened before and you wanted to know how bad clean up was going to be this time. This time it was the daughter of a “family friend”, someone who owed you a lot someone you had enriched, and abusing your authority as usual you knew you could cover it up.”
Sometimes the complicated questions have simple answers.
Why is Sullivan hiring a private attorney to respond to the DC appellate court?
Maybe he needs a criminal atty. Will the lid blow off a history of corruption?
Evidently Judge Sullivan has two children, Emmet A. Sullivan II and Erik G. Sullivan. The former attended DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md. and apparently graduated from there, class of 1989; he has been married to the former Gayle Cristina Franks and may still be. There are at least two grandchildren, TreVaughn and TeJha Sullivan. TreVaughn Sullivan attended Gwynn Park High School in Brandywine, Md. and graduated in 2012. He was evidently a star football player and attended one of the state colleges in West Virginia for a time. TeJha is evidently three or four years younger. I’m guessing they’re both children of Emmet Sullivan II. TeJha Sullivan apparently lives with her mother in Accokeek, Md.
The dirt posting you linked to referred to ‘his namesake son’, but absent any other information I’m very skeptical that a 41 year old married man (or once-married man) with a pair of adolescent children would behave in the manner described.
The other son was, as of 2006, unmarried and childless best I can tell. He would have been roughly 37 years old in 2012. He’s apparently lived in DC or in Arlington, Va the last 20-odd years.
These people do not leave much of an internet trail (no LinkedIn profiles, for example). Neither son appears in a Police Arrests database I found via DuckDuckGo and I’m not locating any news stories from 2012 either.
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?fhid=3607&n=emmet-a-sullivan&pid=18805760
Odd little curio. Judge Sullivan’s father was, if not a white man, a mulatto so light-skinned he could be mistaken for a white man.
VDH has just written a piece that, in essence, says that whatever the MSM says is the truth of something, the truth is actually the opposite.*
Thus, for instance, I have often seen MSM mentions of Judge Sullivan that usually manage to praise him, pointing out what an excellent judge he is.
As with so many prominent people we have seen given high praise by the MSM–only to be disgusted when their mask has been ripped off and the truth about them comes out–could it be that the truth is exactly the opposite of this almost universal praise for, this protective coating the MSM has placed around Judge Sullivan?
* See VDH’s “The Doctrine of Media Untruth” at https://amgreatness.com/2020/05/24/the-doctrine-of-media-untruth/
Re: Sullivan see this article–https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/05/exclusive-judge-emmett-sullivan-general-flynn-trial-arranged-speaking-gig-james-comey-howard-university-100000/
I’ve had this problem my whole life, even when I was quite young, and it’s only gotten worse with age.
neo: Most of my life I’ve been a morning person, even though most of my friends and colleagues weren’t.
When I was working as a programmer, I would show up as early as I could get in the door — 6am if possible. Great for the commute, both ways, plus I would get a couple blessed hours of uninterrupted work before everyone else showed up.
So I’m a little confused now. I’ve never had a late-rising schedule.
No clue how Hoft discovered the Judge’s son owned a small manufactory. One minor correction. The son is Emmet A Sullivan II, named after his grandfather. The judge is Emmet G. Sullivan. There is no ‘Emmet Sullivan Jr.’
OT, I’m reading an interesting book, “Deep Work” by Cal Newport, which argues for the necessity of uninterrupted time and sustained mental focus to get real work done. Newport notes that email, social media, and the internet militate against such concentration.
That’s certainly true of programming. Eighty percent of programming is glorified bookkeeping and doesn’t require much more effort than washing dishes. But the other twenty percent you will never get unless you really strap in and focus your mind like a laser and your will like a weight lifter.
Flynn is under a gag order while the case remains active.
Once the dismissal takes effect he will have a very interesting story to tell.
If the story of the son is true, that should come out soon. Hard to explain the judge’s actions and something like this might.
A little more at Free Republic but no confirmation.
The story of the son sounds fake to me.
huxley:
If you’ve always been a morning person till now, I’m at a loss to explain what happened to you. Most people who develop the pattern you describe either have had the tendency to be a nightowl all their lives, or are adolescents and it’s temporary.
Maybe you’re going through second adolescence?
On the other hand, my guess is that if your natural tendency is to be a morning person, you won’t have too much trouble resetting your internal clock.
If the story of the son is true, that should come out soon. Hard to explain the judge’s actions and something like this might.
–Mike K
Friends have recommended the “Ray Donovan” series from Showtime, but I thought it was just another detective show, so I didn’t bother. I’m watching it now.
Turns out Ray Donovan is a “fixer” for a Hollywood clientele. He is not quite a gangster but close enough. Pretty much anything goes for Ray when it comes to acquiring leverage over people, including law enforcement, in order to protect his clients.
I must wonder how much “fixing” has gone on behind the scenes of current events involving the rich and powerful.
If you’ve always been a morning person till now, I’m at a loss to explain what happened to you. Most people who develop the pattern you describe either have had the tendency to be a nightowl all their lives, or are adolescents and it’s temporary.
neo: What I remember from Gay Gaer Luce’s book, “Body Time” (1973), is that people with little or no external schedule — the book cited college students and trapped miners(!) — would time-shift later and later until they were back on track again.
This is in line with the wiki link you provided: “People with DSPD probably have a circadian period significantly longer than 24 hours.” However, I don’t understand why the graph in the link only shows a consistent night owl schedule.
The story of the son sounds fake to me.
The dirt poster professes to be some sort of political consultant who had a contract with Elijah Cummings. If the post is legit, he’d be simple for Cummings to identify. I tend to doubt that a legitimate poster would make himself so simple to trace by people who had it in for him (but unwilling to put his name on it). I also find it difficult to believe that Sullivan is so influential he can make a criminal charge simply disappear. There are at least eight major police departments in the Washington commuter belt.
“To the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.”
Sorry. I know that’s Ahab, but I found Moby Dick an intolerably bad book.
Consequently, it’s Ricardo Montalban as Khan Noonien Singh that I hear saying those words, when I read them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYPsoxpt0BU
I wonder if Judge Sullivan appreciates rich Corinthian leather?
Art Deco:
It is convenient that Elijah Cummings passed away earlier this year; easier to make up things when someone has died. I’m skeptical about the posting too.
LeClerc:
Flynn may be under a gag order, but he’s told his story through the court. Here’s the document I’m talking about.
R.C.,
Same here! Intellectually, I know it’s Ahab. I was forced to read that atrocious book in the 9th grade.
But I will always picture Khan when I read it and hear it.
Fractal Rabbit:
9th grade is WAY too young for Moby Dick. Way.
If you want to do an experiment, try again, and this time skip through all the parts about the whaling industry. You may still hate it, but maybe not.
I agree that it’s not the easiest book to read. I had to read it in ninth grade, too, but just excerpts from it. But I revisited it later.
Here’s a blog post on reading “Moby Dick” during Covid, which advises:
There’s only one way to read Moby-Dick: Two chapters a night, at your desk, with a glass of Scotch.
–https://www.insidehook.com/article/books/how-to-read-moby-dick-quarantine
Perhaps that’s why “Moby Dick” doesn’t work for high school students. I don’t like Scotch so I’m not sure where that leaves me. I also enjoyed this quote:
Philbrick, now 63, also wrote the introduction to the 150th anniversary Penguin Classics edition of the novel, in which he accurately describes Moby-Dick as
“more than a little intimidating, as if Shakespeare and the translators of the King James Bible teamed up to write a very weird book about whaling.”
huxley:
Actually, only some people have a long cycle. Some actually have a short cycle, and some have a regular cycle. Short cyclers have the opposite problem from people like me: Advanced Sleep Phase Disorder. They have about a 22-hour cycle.
That’s what’s puzzling about you. It sounds as though you may once have tended in that direction, and now in the other.
I liked the whaling part best. Ahab was a nutcase. Should have gotten a job ashore, like a bookkeeper or something.
neo, I read through Flynn’s plea withdrawal that you linked to (5/25 1:43PM). It is very damning of his former lawyers from Covington & Burling, consistent with my suspicions about them since learning Eric Holder is a partner there.
On “Moby Dick,” those who don’t like it might like reading Richard Armour’s The Classics Reclassified, a book I read when young and found very funny at the time. It has a chapter spoofing “Moby Dick.” A couple of quotes:
Richard Aubrey:
Oh, Melville was certainly strange, and Moby is a very strange book. But the whaling parts put me to sleep (and/or disgusted me). I also was traumatized by being taken to see the movie when I was very young. Hadn’t a clue what it was about, except tons of blood in the water, over and over. All I remember about that movie was blood.
Yeah, Melville should have been a customs inspector 🙂 .
By the way, did you ever read “Bartleby”? I read that in high school and loved it. Very very strange, too. “Ah, humanity!”
Neo –
I read the “Flynn Declaration” you provided above. Flynn was apparently out of his depth in dealing with the FBI, the Mueller team, and the Covington attorneys.
If his dismissal is really at hand, he’ll be at liberty to provide his analysis of deep-state treachery. At present he’s not out of sight of Ahab’s harpoon.
I read Moby Dick in my twenties. Hated it. The John Huston film adaption cuts out the whaling BS of which Herman was so enamored. I really enjoyed Elizabeth Hardwick’s short biography of Melville published about 15 years ago.
neo: I hadn’t heard of short-cyclers.
In any event I’m sure my current problem is that I’ve become unmoored from any kind of schedule. My apartment is dark and during Covid I’m only going out, briefly, a couple times a week. So I am now a sort of “trapped miner.”
By pushing myself for a morning schedule I’m doing better. When the world comes back I expect to be fine.
I’d bet that we “delayed sleep phase disorder” people are probably the ones who walked the ramparts at night in Ye Olden Tymes, watching for signs of impending attack.
It makes sense that people who just happen to be fully-alert in the dead of night should be on guard – instead of trying to depend on “normals” who have to struggle to stay awake in the darkness.
Biology Rules! Even if it’s inconvenient in the 21st century – like “the body stores fat when food is plentiful so it can survive the lean times” (a physiological process which certainly annoys ME no end…)
LeClerc:
That film sure didn’t cut out the blood. The whaling/blood parts are all I remember from the film.
Could be worse, could be a poem, imagine Moby-Dickenson. Beowulf at Sea or something.
A_Nonny_Mouse:
We would be particularly well-suited to standing watch in times of famine.
neo. Between cunning and luck, I managed to miss almost all of the books which have been recommended. Assigned, of course, was different.
Gregory Peck played the lead in that movie, right? Captain Ahab I mean.
FOAF:
Yes. I think he was miscast.
Gregory Peck played the lead in that movie, right? Captain Ahab I mean.
FOAF: Yep. And Ray Bradbury wrote the screenplay!
It was a coup for Bradbury as a young writer. John Huston had noticed Bradbury’s short story, “The Foghorn,” about a sea monster, the last of his kind, which had mistakened a lighthouse foghorn as a potential mate.
Anyway, on that basis Huston invited Bradbury to Ireland to write the screenplay, though neither Huston nor Bradbury knew anything about “Moby Dick” beyond Ahab and the White Whale. In his later years Bradbury wrote a book about his Huston/Ireland experience which I would like to read someday.
Peter Viertel wrote the screenplay for Huston’s classic “The African Queen” and Viertel went on to write a book about that experience, which later Clint Eastwood turned into a movie, “White Hunter, Black Heart,” with Eastwood playing Huston. It’s quite delicious and one of the great underrated films IMO.
God broke the mold with Huston.
I can’t resist mentioning that Katharine Hepburn also wrote a memoir about her African Queen experience with the intriguing title:
The Making of The African Queen Or How I went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall and Huston and almost lost my mind
I’d like to read that someday too.
Bogart and Huston, a great combination, some of my favorite movies:
Maltese Falcon
African Queen
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Key Largo
Beat the Devil – a really wacky one
I’m late to this party and not a regular here so I hope all of y’all will indulge me. But some mention was made of John Kerry, who rumor has it served in Viet Nam, meeting with the Iranians. I feel it only fair to remind folks that John Kerry, whilst a Reserve officer in the United States Navy, and still subject to the authority of the UCMJ, traveled to Paris and had unauthorized discussions that were very much against Navy regulations with the North Vietnamese delegation to the peace talks at the same time his brother officers and various and sundry lowly enlisted men (and some women) were exchanging live fire with other North Vietnamese under somewhat less delightful circumstances.
Considering that the Iranians were providing material aid and comfort to various parties shooting at American troops in Iraq, meeting with the enemy seems to be a habit with Mr. Kerry, wot?
The story of the son sounds fake to me.
Could well be but how much have you heard about Tim Kaine’s son ?
In addition to legal arcana, we’re talking about Sullivan’s motivation. Legality can be overcome by motivation. Then there’s the next level, like appeal. Or some kind of review. Then the next level. Eventually legality will win out. We’re told, But it might, through inertia if nothing else.
So what happens if some nefarious plot motivates-threats, bribes, promises–Sullivan to do something very rare and counter to usual procedure? In this case, very counter. And you don’t have the next level locked up?
Two possibilities: The Deepers have the next couple of levels locked up, or think they do, so it’s profitable to tell Sullivan what to do.
Or they don’t, and don’t care because whatever Sullivan can get done at this level is sufficient for the Deepers’ purposes.
Back to the Contreras conundrum: his recusal was mentioned in the arguments before the Appeals court today (6/12), as indicative of the extent of prosecutorial malfeasance – he should have been recused before taking Flynn’s guilty plea.
I still think Sullivan started off not really understanding the part he was supposed to play, and remained confused during the first segment of his juridical fumbling, but was finally read into the Democrats’ plan.