Indictment-O-Rama, Act 3: Cohen Up the River

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/MarshallCohen/status/1259642274667024384

[emailking]

Oh I wonder if Trump will call for Barr to be fired (by him lol) for twisting her words, as he's called for Chuck Todd to be fired about 10 times now for ostensibly twisting Barr's words.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

This isn't over, and Judge Sullivan is very clearly unimpressed by the government's actions.

Judge considering holding Michael Flynn in criminal contempt for perjury in connection with guilty plea

Upon consideration of the entire record in this case, it is hereby

    ORDERED that the Court exercises its inherent authority to appoint The Honorable John Gleeson (Ret.) as amicus curiae to present arguments in opposition to the government’s Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. 198, see, e.g., United States v. Fokker Servs. B.V., 818 F.3d 733, 740 (D.C. Cir. 2016); Jin v. Ministry of State Sec., 557 F. Supp. 2d 131, 136 (D.D.C. 2008); it is further

    ORDERED that amicus curiae shall address whether the Court should issue an Order to Show Cause why Mr. Flynn should not be held in criminal contempt for perjury pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 401, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 42, the Court’s inherent authority, and any other applicable statutes, rules, or controlling law.

As journalist Marcy Wheeler, who has covered the Flynn case in great detail has reported, Flynn is in a hole of his own making and has repeatedly lied to Judge Sullivan's court.

Prosecutors first started moving towards sentencing Flynn in June 2018; it’s clear the investigation was still ongoing but they asked to have Flynn’s presentencing report filed so they could move quickly after that. We now know that this was days after Flynn testified to the grand jury in the Turkish influence peddling case. There were reports Flynn was anxious to be sentenced so he could start earning a living again and in this time period, he registered to start influence peddling again, before his lawyers got him to claim that was just a mistake. On September 17, 2018, prosecutors said they were ready to move towards sentencing and asked for a date starting in November, after the midterms. The hearing ultimately got scheduled for December 18, 2018, after Jeff Sessions had been fired and Trump had announced he would nominate Bill Barr to be Attorney General (he didn’t actually send the nomination to the Senate until January 3, 2019, for reasons that likely have to do with Matt Whitaker’s Vacancy Reform Act status).

At that point, prosecutors recommended a sentence within guidelines and a downward departure, which is consistent with probation. Had Flynn left well enough alone, he would have gotten a year of probation and he’d be free and clear of the justice system by now.

He didn’t leave well enough alone. He got cute, claiming to accept guilt but at the same time floating the first of his complaints about being perjury trapped by mean old FBI agents. In response, not only did Judge Emmet Sullivan release the documents that revealed Flynn lies were worse than known, but he put Flynn under oath, both to reallocute his guilty plea, but also to swear that he didn’t think the circumstances of his interview made him any less guilty. After Sullivan made it clear that if he sentenced Flynn that day, he’d give him prison time, Flynn decided to wait until he was done cooperating after testifying at his partner Bijan Kian’s trial.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1262043888518381574

As always, the Banana Republicans aren't worried about their crimes, but they're very concerned about who ratted them out.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1263268472760545282

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1264603457769570304

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1268136237166182400

[emailking]

Seems to imply Stone will get pardoned.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1268494718394085376

[Badger]

Seems to imply Stone will get pardoned.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1268494718394085376

Is that even remotely in doubt?

[emailking]

Well he's yet to pardon anyone in this thread.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Seems to imply Stone will get pardoned.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1268494718394085376

Is that even remotely in doubt?

It's very much in doubt. Mr. Trump has every reason to dangle a pardon in front of Stone, but absolutely no incentive to actually deliver one. (Once pardoned, Stone can no longer plead the 5th, and can be compelled by a court to testify against Mr. Trump about anything he was pardoned for.) Without a pardon, Stone's best bet is to help keep Mr. Trump in power, so that Trump can protect him from the consequences of his crimes.


Similar reasoning applies to all of Mr. Trump's cronies who have been charged. It's in Mr. Trump's interests to keep them needing his protection, and hoping for a pardon. But actually issuing the pardon removes his leverage over them. It may be done at the last moment (I expect a lot of last-minute pardons from a departing Mr. Trump) but even then I'm not sure how much he gains by it. I expect there will be more pardons for well-connected white collar criminals with no direct connection to Mr. Trump (who will then owe him a favor) than for his immediate subordinates (who, again, can be called to testify).

[Frodo]

The message Senate Republicans are sending to the intelligence community is clear: the next time Russia interferes on Trump's behalf, keep your mouths shut.  Or else...

Republicans Secure More Subpoena Power in Push to Discredit Russia Inquiry

Senate Republicans plunged forward on Thursday with an election-year bid to discredit the Trump-Russia investigation, voting to give themselves expansive authority to subpoena dozens of national security aides and several high-ranking Obama administration officials, including a top campaign adviser to President Trump’s Democratic challenger, Joseph R. Biden Jr.

The party-line vote by the Judiciary Committee was the second time in a week that a Republican-led panel has moved to expand its reach by granting its chairman the power to unilaterally compel documents and testimony related to the Russia matter. In both cases, Republicans are seeking to tarnish the investigators and to recast Mr. Trump and his campaign not as beneficiaries of Russian assistance in 2016, but as victims of dangerous overreach by a Democratic administration and law enforcement officials.

Given how little respect the Trump administration has given to House Democratic subpoenas, former Obama administration officials should treat Senate GOP subpoenas with similar contempt.  

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1272195873351577600

Reminder, from July 2018:
After Moscow Trip, Ron Johnson Says Election Meddling Overblown

One of the Republican senators back from a trip to Moscow is suggesting that Congress went too far in punishing Russia for meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

“I’ve been pretty upfront that the election interference — as serious as that was, and unacceptable — is not the greatest threat to our democracy,” Sen. Ron Johnson said in an interview with the Washington Examiner published over the weekend. “We’ve blown it way out of proportion.”

“We need to really honestly assess what actually happened, what effect did it have, and what effect are our sanctions actually having, positively and negatively,” the Republican from Wisconsin said.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1272195873351577600

Reminder, from July 2018:
After Moscow Trip, Ron Johnson Says Election Meddling Overblown

One of the Republican senators back from a trip to Moscow is suggesting that Congress went too far in punishing Russia for meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

“I’ve been pretty upfront that the election interference — as serious as that was, and unacceptable — is not the greatest threat to our democracy,” Sen. Ron Johnson said in an interview with the Washington Examiner published over the weekend. “We’ve blown it way out of proportion.”

“We need to really honestly assess what actually happened, what effect did it have, and what effect are our sanctions actually having, positively and negatively,” the Republican from Wisconsin said.

Herrr emailssss!!

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1275501017447235588

[GeorgiaModerate]

Well he's yet to pardon anyone in this thread.

Is that a way to get unbanned?

[Koharu]

A federal judge has ordered that Cohen must be released by tomorrow afternoon.

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, in a 36-minute tele-hearing Thursday, found that returning Cohen from home confinement to jail was "retaliatory," that it punished Cohen "because of his desire to exercise his first amendment rights to publish a book and to discuss anything about the book or anything else he wants on social media and with others."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-cohen-prison-release-judge-rules/#app

[brucejoel99]

A federal judge has ordered that Cohen must be released by tomorrow afternoon.

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, in a 36-minute tele-hearing Thursday, found that returning Cohen from home confinement to jail was "retaliatory," that it punished Cohen "because of his desire to exercise his first amendment rights to publish a book and to discuss anything about the book or anything else he wants on social media and with others."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-cohen-prison-release-judge-rules/#app

You know our country is f**ked when we're forced to root for a complete asshole like Michael Cohen.

[President Johnson]

Is there more to come?

https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1290349459143110657