[WSJ] Well, that was bizarre. We’re referring to the fiasco Tuesday of what was supposed to be the sentencing of Michael Flynn. The sentencing was postponed until next year, but not before federal Judge Emmet Sullivan damaged his own reputation with an extraordinary public attack on the former national security adviser for a crime he’s not been charged with or admitted to.
Mr. Flynn pleaded guilty a year ago to a single count of lying to the FBI. Yet after being assured that the former three-star general is sticking with his plea, Judge Sullivan unloaded on the defendant over his supposed violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA.
"All along, you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the National Security Adviser to the President of the United States. That undermines everything this flag over here stands for. Arguably you sold your country out," said the judge. He also used the words "treason" and "treasonous."
Continued on Page 49
Posted as a comment late last evening by our own NoMoreBS
[The Last Refuge] Without cameras in the courtroom we are constrained to understand the Flynn sentencing hearing today through the perspectives of others. The Daily Caller has an article [See Here] and a thread on the events [is Here] and a great video recap of the events by Will Chamberlain [is HERE].
That said, there is much speculation and punditry delivered opinion on what took place; and how the hearing ended with Judge Emmet Sullivan delaying the sentencing of Michael Flynn for 90-days. While we await the transcript from the court, here’s my view.
Last night, while contemplating the possible outcomes of the hearing, there was a strong likelihood of exactly what happened today.... but only if Judge Sullivan was aware of the conflicted position of Michael Flynn, and approached the hearing from that perspective.
Flynn took the guilty plea of lying to investigators to avoid Mueller charging him over the Turkish lobbying issues (FARA).
Happily, it appears Judge Sullivan is well aware of this very specific dynamic and the issues therein. Special Counsel Robert Mueller used the unregistered foreign lobbying charges, and -more importantly- the devastating narrative that can be drawn from those FARA violations, as leverage over Flynn. Based on the comments from Judge Sullivan, it is clear he is aware of this dynamic.
#2
Just because I talk to Foreign agents - if I know it or not, does not mean I have to file as a registered agent of Foreign Country. Appearing on RT is not being a Foreign Adviser, and as far as THAT Judge is concerned, he is a protectorate of larger cases.
It is your ass riding on the Logan Act, "Judge" on a phony FISA warrant illegally issued and non checked. Twice.
Appears Judge Sullivan got the flog Flynn memo.
[NYT] WASHINGTON ‐ A federal judge on Tuesday postponed the sentencing of Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s first national security adviser, after warning Mr. Flynn that he could face prison for lying to federal investigators about his conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition and hiding his role lobbying for Turkey.
At Mr. Flynn’s sentencing hearing in Federal District Court in Washington, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan called Mr. Flynn’s crimes "a very serious offense" and said he was not hiding his "disgust" at what Mr. Flynn had done.
"All along you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the national security adviser," the judge told Mr. Flynn. "Arguably that undermines everything that this flag over here stands for. Arguably you sold your country out."
Later in the hearing, the judge corrected himself, noting that Mr. Flynn’s work on behalf of Turkey had ended in mid-November of 2016, before Mr. Flynn became national security adviser. The judge acknowledged he had made a mistake and said he felt "terrible about that."
#3
Flynn was one of the beneficiaries of a lucrative and legal scam where people who held high level office retire and pretend they can give 'strategic advice' to foreign governments. Most of this ends up in setting up meetings with current office holders who smile nicely, take notes and then do nothing. The foreign governments somehow keep paying.
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/19/2018 8:31 Comments ||
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#4
Didn't see that one coming from Judge Sullivan but should have.
#5
If someone as high up as flynn was suborned, why is it assumed that everyone working under him, and the rest of the intelligence establishment, is squeaky clean? Is that just the way "counterintelligence" works these days?
Is counterintelligence just a fancy word for stupidity?
#9
I am baffled. His rant came out of left field as far as I can tell. Drinks may have been involved. Judicial meltdown, over wrong information, and he didn't seem to want to correct his error. Setting up a mistrial?
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
12/19/2018 15:53 Comments ||
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#10
...or he actually believed a unredacted 302 he was given (like the FISA judge).
[Political Insider] Fox News anchor Shepard Smith scoffed at comparisons between the FBI’s treatment of Hillary Clinton with their treatment of former Trump National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn.
And he did so by disparaging the reporting of one of the network’s most respected investigative journalists, Catherine Herridge.
Recent reports have suggested Flynn was coerced into forgoing a lawyer during his interview with the FBI, while agents sought to make him relaxed during the process in the hopes of getting him to lie. Flynn was unaware that he was under official review, did not have counsel present, and thought he was just shooting the breeze with fellow lawmen. The interview eventually led to a guilty plea on one count of making false statements.
The revelations have led to comparisons of Clinton’s interview, in which the FBI allowed her to have multiple lawyers and aides present to help defend herself and was conducted in a manner that former Director James Comey described as "unusual."
Herridge noted in a segment with Shep that critics have made the comparisons between the two interviews and the host responded by acting like a child, rolling his eyes, interrupting Herridge’s report, and generally speaking like an ignorant, hardcore fan of the former First Lady.
#2
So glad I don't pay for FauxNews and therefor don't contribute to Sheppy, Bret or Chris' salaries.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/19/2018 8:03 Comments ||
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#3
...well, if you buy any products advertised there on, you are. Far more fractionally than cable or satellite subscriptions, but 'no advertisers, no show'. The Left is working that angle for you right now.
#4
Shep has always been a Dem-backing Drama Queen. He's just also gay
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/19/2018 8:50 Comments ||
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#5
#3 I don't have a cable bundle and I don't pay for or watch any of the cable or broadcast news networks. I don't even listen to the audio feed for it on SiriusXM in my car. Real Jazz is better for my blood pressure...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/19/2018 8:55 Comments ||
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#6
And, yeah, I get the advertised product angle, but I buy what I buy and I'm not taking the time to see who advertises on those networks. It's pretty much impossible to be "pure" in that regard, but like religious purity (looking at you, muzzez) and political purity, the value of that sort of "purity" is suspect to say the least.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/19/2018 8:59 Comments ||
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#7
FoxNews ads are almost all scams or disgusting drugs that can kill you a billion ways.
"Please old feeble person do a reverse mortgage with us and enjoy your old age while we bring in appraisers to re-appraise your home after the mortgage at a low value and then steal your home."
"Please by silver/gold/Pt now its a great investment - neglecting to say that there is sales tax and maybe an assay cost when you sell."
"Geico - we are lizards from Omaha"
"P... - with the fat weird lady .. we will never let on that Soros owns our insurance company"
"look at all the icky plumbing pipes we put in bodies for our ads. Use our prescription gook that can kill you a million ways to avoid farting from your poor eating habits."
... and so on
FoxNews
[Real Clear Politics] Historian Victor Davis Hanson said there has been no consequences for the wrongdoing by elites in society and warned that republics and successful states fall apart when the elites fall out of touch with the people.
"We have a whole bunch... here at home, that feel they can dictate to people and they're never subject to the ramifications of their own ideology and policy," he said of elites. "And it's like the emperor has no clothes and then they're surprised that Trump won or surprised that people are rioting in Paris. What did they think was going to happen?"
"We know historically, Tucker, when you have successful systems like ours or the Greek city-state of the fourth century or Rome in the fifth century A.D. or the Byzantines in the fifthteenth century or the ancient regime in Rome. Why do they fall apart? They fall apart because an elite no longer warrants the respect they think that they deserve because they are out of touch with the people," Hanson explained on Tuesday's Tucker Carlson Tonight.
Hanson said there is an "inequality" in the law where the elites, an "array of people who have not told the truth," haven't faced criminal charges. He rattled off names like former FBI director James Comey, former DNI James Clapper, former CIA director John Brennan, former FBI agent Andrew McCabe, and others.
It will be that they can do whatever they want with no consequence -- which means that the next time they have full power, things will be far worse than before.
[Free Beacon] The Connecticut Communist Party honored a pair of union organizers, including an official who nearly captured the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, at its annual awards ceremony.
The party presented the People's World Amistad Awards to Eva Bermúdez Zimmerman in recognition of her upstart challenge against establishment Democrat, as well as longtime union official Shellye Davis. The party described the honorees as "fierce warriors in the forefront demanding workers' and immigrant rights, social justice, peace and equality for a better and sustainable world" in an announcement. The award ceremony was held at a Methodist Church in New Haven on Dec. 8 to mark the 99th anniversary of the Communist Party USA.
Bermúdez Zimmerman made headlines in 2018 when she launched a long shot campaign to challenge Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ned Lamont's lieutenant governor, former Connecticut secretary of state Susan Bysiewicz. Bermúdez Zimmerman, who is married to Connecticut SEIU state council associate director Stacey Zimmerman, took a leave of absence from her work as organizing director of the SEIU Local 2001 for the campaign. Her insurgent run garnered intense media interest as the state's first Puerto Rican candidate for lieutenant governor and was hailed as a "fresh face" in Connecticut's political scene. Despite being out fundraised by Bysiewicz, Zimmerman managed to capture 37 percent of votes in the the August Democratic primary. Lamont and Bysiewicz narrowly won the November election.
The state party also recognized the efforts of Shellye Davis, president of the AFL-CIO affiliated Greater Hartford Central Labor Coalition and a longtime official with the American Federation of Teachers, was also honored for her long history of labor activism. The announcement hailed her work as "leader for the rights of public sector union members and the people they serve, especially the youth."
[Daily Caller] There is an extensive Taliban infrastructure and support network in Pakistan along its border with Afghanistan, which includes education, recruiting, training, financing and command and control centers.
In these areas, the Taliban often operate freely alongside the Pakistani military and with the support of Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence agency, the ISI.
The following information was supplied by on-the-ground sources but represents only a relatively small portion of the assistance being provided to the Taliban by Pakistan.
Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan borders Afghanistan for hundreds of miles, much of it dotted with Taliban safe havens and staging areas for attacks in Afghanistan.
Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, is the home of the Taliban’s Quetta Shura, a command and control center for operations primarily in southeastern Afghanistan. The Taliban are concentrated in the Pashtun Abad and Gulistan Town sections of Quetta, through which the Pakistani military restricts civilian movement, but provides Taliban access to Cantonment, a Pakistani Army base adjacent to Pashtun Abad and Gulistan.
Wounded Taliban are known to be treated in Quetta’s medical clinics, some fighters reportedly receiving payments from the Pakistani government.
On the main highway connecting Quetta to Afghanistan, Taliban are often seen riding motorcycles or in four-by-four trucks carrying their AK-47 rifles. In Kuchlak, just north of Quetta, there are SUVs without license plates belonging to ISI officers, who monitor and protect Taliban movements.
#2
Six pious Pak pundits of Luton
Were all much inclined to disputing,
One shouting, one hooting,
One raping, one looting,
One bombing, one stabbing and shooting!
[National Review] A committee of Catholic Church leaders and sexual-abuse experts has chastised Catholic bishops worldwide to take responsibility for the Church’s sex-abuse crisis and to speak personally to victims in their areas ‐ or risk losing the Church’s credibility.
"Absent a comprehensive and communal response, not only will we fail to bring healing to victim survivors, but the very credibility of the Church to carry on the mission of Christ will be in jeopardy throughout the world," wrote the steering committee of the Vatican’s upcoming February conference on the Church’s sex-abuse epidemic, in a letter to attendees.
The committee is comprised of cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, the Vatican’s top sex-abuse investigator, and father Hans Zollner, an abuse expert in Rome.
"But each of us needs to own this challenge, coming together in solidarity, humility, and penitence to repair the damage done, sharing a common commitment to transparency, and holding everyone in the Church accountable," they wrote.
"The first step must be acknowledging the truth of what has happened," the committee warned the bishops and other Church leaders.
Pope Francis has called an unusual conference of Church leaders at the Vatican from February 21 to 24 that will address the abuse crisis. The conference will request the presence of the leaders of 110 national Catholic bishops’ conferences as well as many abuse experts and heads of religious orders.
[Wash Examiner] Despite our political divisions, here’s a sentiment most Americans can agree on: "You can take my bacon from my cold, dead hands."
Our love affair with the succulent strips has seen everything from bacon lip-gloss to bacon-flavored vodka. We’ve long enjoyed the stuff ‐ pork belly futures were first traded on the Chicago Exchange in 1961.
Unfortunately, the self-anointed "food police," who think Santa should be having water and salad instead of milk and cookies ‐ think bacon is at the center of a public health crisis. They have a solution: Tax it.
And not just bacon, but all meat.
This fall, Oxford researchers suggested taxing beef, bacon, sausage, and other meats. Their justification is on very shaky public health grounds. In short, they claim that meat is bad for people, and therefore the government should tax it. It’s the latest version of the "sin tax."
In our own time, we have seen soft drinks, fruit juice, plastic bags, and even straws similarly targeted by like-minded prohibitionists. Considering the growth, these taxes and their proponents aiming to alter the American lifestyle will clearly not be constrained by a strategy of appeasement.
It’s shocking that this needs to be said, but there are a number of downsides to taxing an entire food group. Chief among them are public health concerns, especially for the poorest among us. Meat is a great source of protein, vitamins, and minerals. Affordable meat helps ensure a diet with sufficient protein for millions of Americans at or near the poverty line, to say nothing of the rest of us.
Meat is a perfectly natural part of the human diet ‐ scientists believe eating meat is what allowed human brains to evolve ‐ and the government recommends meat as a protein source. (The same isn’t true for traditional targets of "sin taxes," such as cigarettes.)
A meat tax, much like a soda tax, would ultimately be regressive and disproportionately harm the poorest among us. Low and middle-income Americans spend roughly half their income on consumption sales taxes, while upper income Americans spend only about 0.8 percent of their income on those same taxes.
In fact, it has an impact on the economy that advocates may not anticipate. When Philadelphia enacted its soda tax, 1,200 people lost their jobs. Meanwhile, Philadelphians did not stop drinking soda but bought from surrounding cities to escape the high tax.
All things considered, it’s hard to view a meat tax as anything more than a way to punish the poor, in terms of nutrition, quality of life, and expenses.
Governments have no business telling us what to eat. It’s up to us to make the best decisions about our diets. While the vegans over at PETA and the Humane Society of the United States would surely be pleased by the nanny state increasing the cost of meat, these same people would likely drool at the idea of altering the packaging of meat, much like has been done with cigarette boxes.
Instead of descending down the rabbit hole of restricting consumer choice based on what the government (or Oxford researchers) think is "good" or "bad," here’s a radical idea: Let people make their own choices at the grocery store without government placing its thumb on the scales and trying to unduly and improperly influence our choices.
#2
Prohibition worked so well?
How many of these people believe at the very same time: "Ban Tobacco! Ban Meat! Legalize Marijuana! Legalize Drugs!" The inherent conflict is dizzying...
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.