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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMueller Ready to Pounce on Trumpworld Concessions to Moscow
Mueller Ready to Pounce on Trumpworld Concessions to Moscow
New court filings by Muellers office could answer a central question of the Russia investigation: What did the Kremlin hope to get from its political machinations?
Erin Banco
12.18.18 5:00 AM ET
For more than a year, Special Counsel Robert Muellers office has questioned witnesses broadly about their interactions with well-connected Russians. But three sources familiar with Muellers probe told The Daily Beast that his team is now zeroing in on Trumpworld figures who may have attempted to shape the administration's foreign policy by offering to ease U.S. sanctions on Russia.
The Special Counsels Office is preparing court filings that are expected to detail Trump associates conversations about sanctions reliefand spell out how those offers and counter-proposals were characterized to top figures on the campaign and in the administration, those same sources said.
The new details would not only bookend a multi-year investigation by federal prosecutors into whether and how Trump associates seriously considered requests by Moscow to ease the financial measures. The new court filings could also answer a central question of the so-called Russia investigation: What specific policy changes, if any, did the Kremlin hope to get in return from its political machinations?
Muellers interest in sanctions arose, at least in part, out of his teams investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. The Special Counsels Office noted in a court filing last week that Flynn had lied to the FBI about his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak concerning U.S. sanctions. But other portions of this court filing were left redacted.
Muellers team is looking closely at evidencesome of it provided by witnessesfrom the transition period, two individuals with knowledge of the probe said.
more...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/mueller-ready-to-pounce-on-trumpworld-concessions-to-moscow?ref=home
ewagner
(18,964 posts)Why is Mueller giving Flynn a free pass?
Scarsdale
(9,426 posts)are involved? Pence, McConnell, Ryan plus many other gop members. Is it possible the entire administration will be taken down? Good news if that is the case. Never has there been a more corrupt group of people in power. So much damage has been done in such a short time, it boggles the mind.
babylonsister
(171,102 posts)But maybe the info Flynn provided outweighed his lying, which he got caught at. I don't know, but do have a lot of faith in Mueller who's privy to all the facts, unlike myself.
ewagner
(18,964 posts)Can you imagine the gravity, importance, bombshell value of the information he would have to provide in order to outweigh his out-and-out treasonous behavior?
It had better be GONZO!
Perseus
(4,341 posts)And that is why I also wonder why he is getting off something like treason so easy.
If Benedict Arnold had returned to the USA he would have been executed, that is the punishment for treason. I am not saying Flynn should be executed, but a crime of treason needs to carry a heavy sentence. Also, I don't think the fact that Flynn is getting easy from treason sends a message to anyone, I think crooks an traitors think different from the rest of humanity, they don't see consequences, and they always look at the end, anything in between is collateral damage, and the end is just their goal, that is where they stop, they never analyze what can happen after they get there, they don't evaluate the consequences and that is why they always believe there will be no repercussions.
NewJeffCT
(56,829 posts)who has been ahead of the curve on Trump/Russia -
If you compare the charges for Flynn's associates versus what Flynn was recommended, the only way Flynn could have gotten that big of a reduction was if he gave Team Mueller "gold plated" inside information.
He posted that on Twitter yesterday, but I can't find the direct tweet right now as I'm in the office.
dajoki
(10,678 posts)whatever he gave up must be huge. However, I still believe he and all the rest of them deserve serious prison time.
Volaris
(10,275 posts)Last edited Tue Dec 18, 2018, 03:19 PM - Edit history (1)
Mueller let Samny the Bull walk on 2 dozen murders to get him to flip on Jon Gotti, and Bodacious Bob seems to be running this like any other mob takedown
2naSalit
(86,843 posts)be the SP, he is an expert on bringing down such crime organizations, and that's what we have for an administration right now. I think that at least half of Congress and several state govs will go down by the end of this.
And, there may be subsequent cases where he won't be immune and get his time behind bars anyway.
ewagner
(18,964 posts)I don't know if the plea/cooperation agreement is comprehensive or if it leaves a "trap door"..
2naSalit
(86,843 posts)I hope there are some charges filed that are not covered in the plea agreement.
Merlot
(9,696 posts)Farmer-Rick
(10,216 posts)Traitor Trump is doing it for the money, Flynn is doing it out of animosity towards the US.
So, why is he free to go complaining about his investigators?
watoos
(7,142 posts)from Erdogan to shuffle Gulen off to Turkey.
Don't know what went on with Flynn and the Russian ambassador, but Mueller knows.
Farmer-Rick
(10,216 posts)I just think he was more about f*cking over the US than the money.
FakeNoose
(32,823 posts)Flynn was the first to flip and it sounded like he told Mueller a lot of what he knew. Well Mueller got deeper into the investigation, and one of the things he learned was Flynn lied about a few things. Mueller turned the screws on him a little bit, and Flynn gave up a lot more including Pence. Whatever Flynn could have told Mueller about Cheeto, I believe he gave that up too. This is all guessing on my part, based on the things we've seen for the last year.
Flynn knows he's going to prison, but he wants to keep his son out. I believe that's his entire purpose in this. Somehow the Russians turned Flynn when he was working for Obama, maybe they have kompromat on him.
2naSalit
(86,843 posts)at least I hope it is.
sdfernando
(4,947 posts)Flynn's son is knee deep in this too. Flynn is doing everything he can to keep the boy out of jail.
Perseus
(4,341 posts)He is a white supremacist...isn't he the one that spread the rumors about the pizza place?
sdfernando
(4,947 posts)Agreed that he is nuts and should go to jail....but if we can get trump, pence, mcconnell, ryan, and a whole slew of others off of the elder Flynn its worth it.
Face it elder Flynn has already ruined his whole family. I'm hoping that he gets a Court Martial and gets booted down to Private...and forfeiture of his pension...this is the very least that should happen if he gets no jail time.
Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)ginnyinWI
(17,276 posts)machoneman
(4,014 posts)...convinced him to flip. I mean, I understand that as he got deeper and deeper into his anti-Clinton screeds (lock her up!) and anti-Democrat stances he lost all perspective. Maybe it being blinded by the money too. But ultimately I say he flipped when it was pointed out to him his obligation to the USA and what he stood for for years as a military man that got him to switch sides.