I think the fact that this is a single count charge against Flynn is huge.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

Considering they had him dead to right on so many different things. (Such as his failing to register as an agent, his dealings in Turkey which possibly involved a kidnapping, etc.)


He's a cooperating witness and he plead to a single count to receive leniency that would have otherwise kept him in jail for the rest of his life. Of that, I'm certain.

[CincyDem]

1. And having him plead guilty in a public forum (vs. Papadop) is brilliant Mueller-theater.

Papadop plea was confidential, maybe because he continued on his normal routine with a wire.

Flynn will be center stage. Mueller saying, in effect, to Trump..."he used to be your best friend but now he's my best friend".

Can't wait for the tweet storm response on this.

[mikeysnot]

2. he better get time in jail

or this is a total bannana republic of corruption.

[Wounded Bear]

21. Doubtful...

Even if Trump doesn't pardon him, I suspect he'll spend no time for this charge.

The good part is that he has pretty much given up his 5th Amendment rights.

[Irish_Dem]

32. I agree totally. He needs jail time and loss of military pension. nt

[caraher]

54. That's not how deals work

Mueller is after bigger game, and I support him in his hunt. Flynn getting off light is worth it if we get a good shot at taking down the whole rotten edifice.

[mikeysnot]

60. I just see Scooter Libby all over this mess.

I hope I am wrong. There are people in jail for less crimes cause they could not post bail.

[PRETZEL]

61. I think the difference here is that

Scooter Libby fell on his sword,

[Pluvious]

64. Let's pray that includes Pence !! (nt)

[jimlup]

71. I settle for getting to the Orange Clown thing

everything else is incidental.

Let's save the country and Get this slime out of the White House to save the country.

The best case scenario is that Pence now goes down and Trump follows before he can ram through a successor. That will make Paul Ryan of Wisconsin PROTUS. Not a great option but far better than either Orange insane thingy or Pence.

[NoMoreRepugs]

3. Was thinking the same thing. Once they showed

him their cards he knew he had to fold.

[delisen]

19. Why did power of pardon not figure? or has it?

Can prosecutor offer a deal contingent upon Flynn agreeing to testify even if pardoned?

Could military deprive him of his pension if he accepted presidential pardon?

[Wounded Bear]

22. Not sure it matters much...

Flynn has damaged his 5th Amendment protections with this. Assuming they have more on him, which is a pretty good supposition, you can figure Mueller owns him.

[delisen]

31. I am really wanting to know is why Flynn

and his attorneys would have figured it was better for him to plea bargain to a crime rather than rely upon Trump pardoning him.

[Irish_Dem]

33. That is a good question. Maybe Flynn was not sure Trump would pardon him?

[delisen]

38. That seems possible.

[marylandblue]

42. Because Trump is unreliable and Flynn knows it

Better to have a done deal with Mueller than wait for a pardon from Trump that may never come.

[RandomAccess]

43. As I understand it, a pardon involves

a) an admission of guilt
b) the requirement to answer all further questions about the issue, which wouldn't be very good for Trump.

[uponit7771]

59. +1, THIS If Flynn decides not to answer then he goes to jail once pardoned.

[mobeau69]

51. A bird in hand is worth two in a bush. n/t

[leftynyc]

25. A pardon would be worse for donnnie

It may keep flynn out of trouble but it also means he has zero reason not to testify against donnie. I don't think a pardon is on the table for flynn - mostly because it looks like obstruction.

[tinrobot]

34. A pardon might also put Flynn's son in jeopardy.

He's got that hanging over his head as well.

[SeaDoo77]

65. Checkmate

Trump can't pardon a partner in crime anyway.

[niyad]

69. welcome to du

[Skittles]

70. know when to fold

know when to walk away
know when to run

[monmouth4]

4. Flynn evidently knows the art of the deal..n/t

[Eyeball_Kid]

5. Flynn is singing like a canary. And he's singing about Jared, Junior, Princess Ivanka, and Daddy.

Trumpy knows his cover has blown open. He knows that he's committed treason. He knows that there is precious little between now and indictments of his family and, lastly, of himself. It's now a slow, torturous walk to complete ruin. And to say nothing of Schneiderman's investigations, which have the potential of confiscating ALL of his assets, and the assets of his criminal family.

[Cracklin Charlie]

6. Ivanka offered Flynn any job he wanted.

He is one of the biggest of fishes.

Lock Him Up!

[Madam Mossfern]

11. That's speculation...

[Eyeball_Kid]

14. Of course it is!

But it's also the logic of the situation. That's how Justice works. That's how prosecutors work. Anyone who's got minimal experience with prosecutors will accurately predict what's coming next, whether it's called speculation or not.

[Irish_Dem]

36. Trump is reported to be delusional so hard to tell what he thinks. Ivanka and Jared may be facing

reality at long last.

[RandomAccess]

44. Thud

I hope they all fall HARD.

[Irish_Dem]

45. Oh I think it is going to be a very long and hard fall for them. nt

[kentuck]

7. Makes sense.

He would rather take his chances before the judge on this one charge than face a possible life sentence for the other charges.

We have to assume that he gave up a lot to get this deal.

[Eyeball_Kid]

15. We also should NOT assume that Flynn's off the hook for other crimes.

Flynn's crimes are massive (likely including espionage, a capital crime). He likely will be indicted on other charges, although Mueller will also request of the Court that Flynn's assistance in furthering other prosecutions earns him leniency.

[kentuck]

17. Some charges were probably dropped?

to get the guilty plea?

We don't know which ones?

[leftynyc]

26. Not dropped

Just being held over his head until he tells all he knows.

[kentuck]

30. They got him by the jewels...

it would seem?

[Irish_Dem]

37. If he is only going to be charged with lying to the FBI, it is a travesty.

When do you think he will be charged with the other crimes?

[RandomAccess]

46. It probably depends on how cooperative he is

We're all pretty sure there are many more much bigger "problems" Flynn has, and being charged with this one seems laughably small.

But it's part of the probable bargain they made: "Okay, I'll plead on this in exchange for telling you EVERYTHING I know, and cooperating fully until it's all done and you let me loose. And I'll remember that you can resuscitate those other charges any time you think I'm not being fully cooperative. And oh yeah, charge my son too."

[Irish_Dem]

49. Flynn better cough up info on the big fish in exchange for this small charge.

He should be doing jail time and lose his pension.

[PRETZEL]

55. Mueller would have never offered this deal

if he didn't already have it and it was verified.

Personally, Mueller has already hooked his fish, now we're just going to watch him reel it in.

[Irish_Dem]

56. Wonderful sight to behold. Let the reeling begin. nt

[PearliePoo2]

8. Exactly right! The legal beagles were explaining this as you said!

[Wounded Bear]

23. "Dropped" is probably the wrong term...

more likely held in abeyance pending further questioning and investigations.

Mueller owns Flynn now.

[GusBob]

9. Begs the question: what does he have on Trumps to offer in return for any plea?

[Eyeball_Kid]

12. Flynn has everything on Trumpy and his criminal kiddies.

That's why Trumpy treated Flynn with kid gloves after Flynn left the WH, telling him to "stay strong." Trumpy knows that Flynn was inside Trumpy's closet of skeletons and can map out the entire campaign as a conspiracy against the United States. THAT'S the charge that Mueller is constructing. And Flynn is giving Mueller the fast lane.

[GusBob]

13. And Trump asked Comey to back off investigating Flynn IIRC

[Eyeball_Kid]

18. Rosenstein will drop a cinder block on both Trumpy's and Sessions' heads.

HIS testimony will turn him into Trumpy's HellBoy. And let's not forget Jared's bone-headed advice to Trumpy to fire Comey. It's all part of Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice. Any conspiracy charge in which Trumpy is indicted virtually prevents Trumpy from pardoning co-conspirators, as he would also have to pardon himself. This isn't going to happen.

The only action left for Trumpy?

KEEP DIGGING.

[Eyeball_Kid]

10. Now let's see Trumpy "blow a gasket."

With Flynn in Mueller's clutches, there is no way that Trumpy can even think about firing Mueller. He's already going to be indicted on perhaps 30 or 40 counts of Obstruction. And now that his pressuring of Senate Republicans to stop their investigations has come to the attention of the public, Senators will be very reluctant to entertain Trumpy's pleas any more, because THEY are now in Mueller's sights as co-conspirators to Obstruct Justice.

Trumpy tried to develop a leak-proof protection plan. He clearly has the House Intelligence Committee in his hip pocket, with Ryan, Nunes and Gowdy running interference for him. All three likely are targets for Conspiracy to Obstruct. But he also went a step too far in pressuring GOP Senators, who are more reluctant to getting pushed around. Now the Obstruction efforts are in full view, and ANY moves to protect Trumpy from ANYONE in Congress will be seen as further evidence of Obstruction.

[Irish_Dem]

39. So you think Mueller will go after senators as well?? Holy Crap. nt

[Kingofalldems]

16. Here you go:

Link to tweet

[dalton99a]

20. "General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it."

- Flynn’s attorney Robert Kelner, March 2017

[PRETZEL]

24. And I think he already has

I think Mueller now has Flynn's whole story, hence the single charge.

I also think that Mueller calling Jared back in now puts this into a brighter light.

My guess, Jared is up next.

[dalton99a]

27. My guess as well. Kushner for perjury - easy charge

[Adrahil]

28. Notice no Turkey related charges....

That's where they really have his balls in a vice.

And charging him with Russia-related offenses is ABSOLUTELY a message to Trump.

[dalton99a]

29. +1

[Wounded Bear]

35. Yet...

[Lint Head]

40. Mueller is holding back to keep Flynn pardon proof. If he is pardoned for this then another charged

will be leveled at him.

[defacto7]

58. I like your analysis.

[uponit7771]

68. +1, the other thing I read is if Red Don does pardon Flynn that adds to obstruction charge. I don't

... know the law on that but that makes a lot of sense seeing like you said Flynn then can be further charged with something then ... Flynn doesn't have 5th amendment rights on this subject and can be put in jail if he keeps his trap shut

[R B Garr]

41. I think you're right. Flynn knows he can just go on RW TV/radio like Gordon Liddy

and still make a living, so he cooperated. RW'ers love their treason committing felons, so he'll get plenty of air time.

[hibbing]

47. Ollie North

I hope this doesn't all turn out like that, but I'm not feeling very optimistic.


Peace

[EffieBlack]

48. He's giving them something good. nt

[librechik]

50. I concur. n/t

[workinclasszero]

52. I bet Flynn spilled his guts about Trump and his Russian treason

[MFM008]

53. AND

It must be good stuff...otherwise Flynn would have gone down on multiple counts.

Now all of a sudden maggots crazy behavior begins to make more sense.....

[Enoki33]

57. Just heard the statement issued by Flynn. What jumped out was

his stated intent to do what is best as ex military for his family and country. There was no mention of the ruling crime family. That inclusion of country must surely send shivers through the Whitehouse.

[Pluvious]

66. You can bet he'd respond to any threats against his son n/t

[Fla Dem]

62. They still can bring other more serious charges if he doesn't cooperate and

they have the sentencing to hold over him.

[Dawson Leery]

63. If he does not deliver the goods, more charges will come.

[Pepsidog]

67. To boot, looks like one of the names attached to criminal information charge is Muslim.

How fitting, Zainab A. Ahmad is one of the lawyers from Mueller’s Office who signed the one count criminal “Information”. How fitting that a female, American born, Muslim woman signs the prosecuting charge.