Michael Flynn's company was caught red-handed for violating a number of federal statutes. The kickbacks he sent to Alptekin as part of the scheme are undeniable proof of the fraud Flynn Intel Group was engaged in. And he was paid by Turkey to be a secret agent on their behalf.
Mueller's decision to give Flynn the sweetheart deal of the century, in exchange for nothing of apparent value to the DOJ, was always mystifying. Though perhaps Mueller offered such a favorable deal knowing that it would be hard to compete with Trump's ability to offer a pardon.
It's as if Mueller's investigation operated under the naive belief that the DOJ was the same DOJ he'd worked for, and that it would remain the DOJ after the Special Counsel was done.
But DOJ is Trump's plaything now. And Republicans are either thrilled by it, or just don't care.
But DOJ is Trump's plaything now. And Republicans are either thrilled by it, or just don't care.
And the Democrats, based on some arcane post-impeachment political calculation, have acquiesced to the GOP's endorsement of Trump's claim that the rule of law does not apply to the President, having determined that they lack the ability to stop Trump's open abuses of power.
Sure, a Constitution still has some meaning even when the President seizes the power to control who does and does not get prosecuted, and wields it as a de facto authorization for his cronies to commit criminal acts that the President approves of.
But it has a lot less meaning.
But it has a lot less meaning.
What a sick joke.
The DOJ's position is that the DOJ acted wrongfully by conducting a counterintelligence investigation into why Flynn was going around lying (to the Vice President, no less!) about the secret promises he'd made to the Russian ambassador.
The DOJ's position is that the DOJ acted wrongfully by conducting a counterintelligence investigation into why Flynn was going around lying (to the Vice President, no less!) about the secret promises he'd made to the Russian ambassador.
Trump's National Security Advisor was an undisclosed agent for a foreign power, who was secretly paid millions of dollars to advance a foreign power's interest. There is no dispute about this fact.
And Trump's DOJ now says it was wrong for the DOJ to ever investigate him for it.
And Trump's DOJ now says it was wrong for the DOJ to ever investigate him for it.
Having a National Security Advisor who exposed himself to criminal liability while acting on the Turkish government's behalf, and then goes around lying to the VP about his promises to other foreign leaders, isn't just a law enforcement matter. It's a national security nightmare.
Our institutions will not save us.
Because they're all too busy making the same mistake Mueller made: enacting plans for the future premised on a bedrock assumption that rule of law will still exist in the future as a meaningful constraint on Trump's power.
Because they're all too busy making the same mistake Mueller made: enacting plans for the future premised on a bedrock assumption that rule of law will still exist in the future as a meaningful constraint on Trump's power.
Trump is now campaigning off of his destruction of the rule of law, and his denouncement of the DOJ prosecutors who handled the Flynn case as "dishonest, crooked" "human scum" who are "going to pay a big [but unspecified] price."
