This is just coming across the wire.
Michael Flynn, who originally plead guilty to flimsy charges of lying to the FBI, is now looking to withdraw his guilty plea and fight things out in open court. This comes on the heels of the government going back on their promises dealing with his prior cooperation. They recently recommended he go to jail for six months instead of just a few weeks like originally indicated.
#BREAKING: Gen. Michael Flynn has withdrawn his guilty plea, citing the government’s “bad faith, vindictiveness, and breach of the plea agreement.” @SidneyPowell1 #Flynn pic.twitter.com/Acp0E2mfQB
— Brooke Singman (@BrookeSingman) January 15, 2020
Flynn isn’t wrong about the government’s behavior. Robert Mueller went after Flynn for something that simply isn’t prosecuted usually. Former Dep. FBI Director Andrew McCabe, for example, admitted directly that he lied to agents and has thus far escaped any legal accountability at all. Flynn was an early scalp for the Muller investigation, allowing them to claim they were making progress when it would eventually become clear that there was nothing actually there. The charges against Flynn were so vague that even the agents in the room didn’t think he lied.
So why did he plead guilty? Because the government has essentially bankrupted him and were threatening to go after his son. Taking a slap on the wrist in a cooperation deal seemed like the best option at the time. Flynn did that and then the government reneged because Flynn’s attorney sought information that could have been exculpatory. There’s also the fact that Flynn refused to say what the prosecutors wanted him to say because he didn’t feel it would be truthful.
I’m not sure how this will go and I’m skeptical the judge, who’s shown himself to have no business presiding over this case, will allow Flynn to retract the plea. But if he does, things will get very interesting, very quickly.
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