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The Most Important Thing About Michael Flynn Is Not His Guilt, But His Politicized Prosecution
[The Federalist] On Tuesday, presiding judge Emmet Sullivan hit a variety of topics when Michael Flynn appeared before him for sentencing on one count of lying to the FBI. The hearing ended with Sullivan holding the matter until Flynn finished cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.But by then Sullivan had ping-ponged from questioning whether Flynn needed additional time to reconsider his guilty plea, to asking the government if the former Army lieutenant general could be charged with treason. One soliloquy in particular struck me. In discussing the charges brought against Flynn, Sullivan stressed that "This is a very serious offense. A high-ranking senior official of the government making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation while on the physical premises of the White House." For one short moment, Sullivan’s stark pronouncement cut through the partisan noise surrounding Flynn’s prosecution. Yet it is not that simple. For many, the criminal case against Flynn was never about Flynn; it was about our country abandoning the precept of equal justice under the law. This governing platitude took a hit when the FBI spun its investigation into Hillary Clinton as a mere "matter;" when agents questioned the former secretary of State in the presence of two witnesses, assuring their stories would match; when an agent involved in the Clinton investigation called her responses "questionable," but not "provable" lies, and nothing became of it; when the FBI took no action against other witnesses whom they believed clearly lied during their investigation of Clinton; and when the public learned that the agents knew all along nothing would be done about Clinton’s criminal recklessness in her handling of classified materials. In contrast to the kid-glove handling of Hillary Clinton and those close to her, the FBI reached out to Flynn with an iron fist ensconced in a velvet glove. An interview that ended with agents concluding that Flynn had not lied resulted instead in federal charges once Special Counsel Mueller’s office became involved. Posted by: Besoeker 2018-12-21 |
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