Legal Experts Familiar with Federal Immunity Negotiations Weigh In

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From LawNewz.com

Flynn Wants Immunity. So Does That Mean President Trump is Screwed?

Elkan Abramowitz, high profile white collar criminal defense attorney:

In light of the reported involvement of Flynn in the subject matter of the investigations, it is not at all surprising that he is seeking immunity from Congress before he testifies. Congress needs to coordinate any decision on granting him immunity with law-enforcement personnel, because sometimes congressional immunity can negatively impact a subsequent prosecution as happened in the Oliver North case..

Mark Zaid, National Security Expert and attorney:

I can’t imagine if I were his lawyer that I wouldn’t ask for immunity regardless of whether he did anything illegal or not, even if just a perception. A favorite tactic of the FBI is to accuse someone of a false statement because to many law enforcement officers and prosecutors an inconsistency is interpreted as lying. That is then used as leverage to force an individual to comply in other ways, or to be punished for crimes that perhaps cannot be proven, regardless of the validity.

So at this early stage I would suggest the request for immunity is more about skillful lawyering than anything else. That said, the Trump Administration better hope that’s all it is.

Robert Barnes, California Trial Attorney:

Every defense lawyer does it, especially if he thinks the media speculation last week was really a leaked idea from somebody against Trump. He’s trying to pull a Huma — ask for carte blanche immunity for mistakes Flynn may have made (likely unrelated to Russia inquiry, but connected to his belated Turkey lobbying disclosure) in exchange for the lure of testimony Flynn might give. Flynn then doesn’t give any testimony of consequence since he now has full immunity. The reason is because his only risk is perjury once given immunity, so you don’t say anything adverse about anyone else when a smart defense lawyer might convince someone was perjury. The government is well aware of this, and OTHER than Hillary Clinton’s case, they never do this without a proffer. Even then, they usually only give use-and-fruits immunity that is worthless against unrelated charges. No sane lawyer lets his client proffer because a proffer can be used against you if you ever choose to testify in your own defense, except in special cases where you have complete confidence your client has little risk. Flynn is actually sending word he is going to take the 5th on everything (a smart decision given the whole town is out to crucify him), and won’t talk without carte blanche immunity, which he and his lawyer know the government is never going to give (because it requires specialized approvals it won’t get). What looks like a hostile signal to Trump is actually a self-defense signal that Flynn won’t be saying anything at all.

I'm not holding my breath for any startling revelations.

I still think the most likely Friday news dump will be the throwing of Devin Nunes under the bus... he'll "resign his committee chairship" to spend more time getting military bases in the Azores or whatever.

cautiously,
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